Love Without Sight
by Caelia di Mekio
Summary: Charlotte de Chagny, three-times the great granddaughter of Christine and Raoul comes to the Opera Populaire guided by Christine's diary and finds herself in a new entanglement of her ancestor's legacy.
1. Mulheim Curse and L'Opera International

Disclaimer: This is based on the 2004 movie version of the Phantom of the Opera, given that a certain LC will be pissed if I put this under Musicals and Plays. I am not copying her work. This was all my idea, no matter what she may say.

Anyway, I do not own POTO, but Charlotte de Chagny, Edward Finalman, Margaret (Maggie) Giry, Isabella San Marco, Alessandro (Sandro) Moro, Marie Giry, Joey Wosten, Chanel Vignette, Andre, Tomas, Susana, Katherine (Kate) Giry, Elisabeth (Beth) Giry and Erik Mulheim the Sixth are all my OCs, as well as the four other loves of the Phantoms.

Charlotte, Erik, everyone with Giry in their name, Andre and Tomas are all descended from the people in POTO. Whatever. You probably want to read the actual fuckin' story, at this point. Read. Enjoy. Review. I mean it. Review!

The following letters are excerpts from the diary of Christine Daae.

My darling Raoul,

As I write these word, I know my life is almost at it end. I have thought this final letter through and now inscribe the words for our descendants.

Though I have lived a full and happy life, I cannot forget the wrongs I caused Erik Mulheim, the Phantom of the Opera.

Erik had illegitimate twins with my beloved friend, Meg Giry: a daughter who was quite pretty and named in my honor. The other child was a son, who bore the same name and features as his father.

Shortly before his death, Erik sent me a last message, much like the one I am writing to you. I have pasted the letter within these pages:

_Christine,_

_Forgive me for the way I treated you. I did it because I love you, and I wanted my freedom._

_There is a curse on me and all my male descendants. Until we can love and be loved for ourselves, we will continue to bear disfigured faces and wallow in death and destruction. I realize only now, on my deathbed, that trying to force you to love me would not have broken this curse._

_I beg you once again to forgive me._

_I remain_

_Yours,_

_Erik Mulheim,_

_The Phantom of the Opera_

Raoul, these words brought so much thought rushing to the surface. Could I have loved Erik, had I known the results? What would have happened if you and I had not left him?

I suppose we shall never know. Well, my love, I feel I should finish this letter and kiss you one last time.

Your loving wife,

Christine Daae

Comtesse de Chagny

"Little Lotte"

* * *

November 10th, 2009, 139 years after the Affair of The Phantom of The Opera

"Ugh!" Charlotte de Chagny wrinkled her nose in disgust as she stepped out of her hostel on the Rue de Montmorency. "Oh, my God, what a stench!" The smell of last night's escargot dinner was strong. Nineteen-year-old Charlotte, or Lottie to her friends, had not been to Paris since her grandmother, Mamon had died last spring. She still was not used to how different Paris was from her hometown of New York City.

Charlotte was a Broadway prodigy and a Juilliard attendee who had been recruited to play Christine Daae in the debut production of L'Opéra International: The Phantom of the Opera.

She raised her hand to hail a taxi. "L'Opéra Populaire, si vous plait, Monsieur." She requested in flawless French as she stepped in.

"Mais oui, mademoiselle." Ten minutes later, Charloote stepped out to drink in the details of the opera house. She dropped 15 francs into the cabby's waiting palms. "Merci." he said, before speeding off again.

"LOTTIE!" A loud squeal came from behind her. "Edward, it's Lottie!" Suddenly, Charlotte was tackled by Maggie Giry and Edward Finalman. The trio hadn't seen each other since Charlotte had dumped Edward during the final performance of Jesus Christ Superstar. Edward was attending Harvard and Maggie had been working with her Grandmama Marie to refurbish L'Opéra Populaire for the debut season.

"What's the buzz? Tell me what's happening? Oh, what's the buzz? Tell me what's happening!" The girls sang, throwing up their hands in delight.

"Why should you want to know? Lottie, tell me what your role is. Mmmmmmmm. Maggie's Meg, I'm playing Raoul. All we need to find is Phantom and we'll all be here and know." Edward retorted.

Charlotte half-smiled, half-grimaced. "You figured it out. I'm playing Christine."

"Thees-a leetle girl is a-playing Christine?" A loud voice demanded. The trio turned to see a girl with firey red curls in Italian designer wear and a slightly pudgy boy behind her.

"How dare you!" Charlotte sang, then lowered her voice to speech. "I am fully qualified to play the female lead!"

"Oh, re-a-lax. I'm just a-joking. I'm Isabella San Marco. I'm a-playing Carlotta."

"Buon giorno. My name is Charlotte de Chagny. I'm a direct descendant of Christine and Raoul. This is Maggie Giry and Edward Finalman. They're playing―"

"Meg. She's my ancestor."

"Raoul. Just because I'm the only one who looks good enough to play him." Charlotte punched him in the arm. "Ow."

The pudgy boy stepped forward and took Charlotte's hand. "Signorina, it is my honor." He kissed the top of her hand. Edward glowered. "My given name is Alessandro Moro. I will be playing the role of Piangi."

"It's nice to meet you, Alessandro." Maggie stepped forward. He took her hand, dropping Charlotte's.

"Please call me Sandro, Margarita. All of my good friends do." He kissed Maggie's hand too.

"Stop that, you lecher!" Kissing Maggie is one thing, she's just a good friend." Edward burst out. Maggie's face fell. "But it's another thing entirely when you kiss my girlfriend!"

"_Ex_-girlfriend." Charlotte corrected. "Remember? I dumped you. Besides, Sandro probably can't help himself. Where are you from, Sandro?"

"Roma. Where else?" Sandro shrugged.

"See? Maggie and I are both blonde and all southern Italian men are amorous and love blondes. I toured Italy with...um… in 2004." Charlotte didn't want to talk about her mom. Or her dad, for that matter. Both her parents had died in a car crash on New Year's Day in 2005, her fifteenth birthday. Mamon had come from her cozy little flat in Paris to take care of Charlotte and the penthouse on Fifth Avenue. They'd been so close and happy until Mamon had gotten pneumonia and gone back to France just in time to die in her own bed. The memory was still fresh and painful in Charlotte's mind. "Look, could we just go in, please?"


	2. First Encounter

Hey, everyone. Firstly, I want to apologize to my Percy Jackson FF reader. I'm a really slow typer. I promise a new NGP will be up soon. Anyway I don't own POTO, blah, blah, blah, all that disclaimer crap. I only mention the characters of the original show, so does that really count as using them? Never mind. Just enjoy Love Without Sight. Yes, I know the original Phantom was a tenor, but I like baritones. They're more versatile.

Oh, and to Lila Caffee, no, I don't read other FF. That's not me. I write from my soul.

**********

The five new acquaintances stepped into the Opera House. Charlotte let out a gasp of delight. "Oooh! Maggie, this is amazing! How'd your grandma do it? It must have cost a fortune!" The old half-naked statues had all been replaced by fully clothed ones. A crystal chandelier ten times as elaborate as the on the Phantom had destroyed hung from the center of the ceiling. The creamy marble floors looked more polished than a mirror, and velvet hangings with glistening new gold cord hung from the walls. "C'est magnifique!" Charlotte snapped her fingers in imitation of Mamon.

"Merci, ma chérie." They all turned to see old Madame Marie Giry, Maggie's grandmother, descending the staircase. The former dancer's wispy auburn hair was fading to a soft gray in her braid and her face was lined with creases from smiling. "Welcome to the newly refurbished Opera Populaire. I am Mme. Giry, the manager. However, you are all free to call me Marie. My daughter Beth will be your dance instructor, and her girls, Kate and Maggie, will me playing Madame Giry and Meg in the show."

"Talk about a family operation." Edward snickered to Sandro.

"Monsieur Edward, neither le Fantome, nor I will tolerate ridicule." Marie snapped. "Therefore, please refrain from mocking anyone here."

"Wait. There's still a Phantom here? THE Phantom?" Charlotte cocked her head.

"Non. Not the Phantom your ancestors encountered, Charlotte. Our current Phantom is a descendant, like you." She turned back up the stairs. "Come on, we're only touring the Opera House once."

"So are we allowed to see the Phantom?" Sandro asked. "I'd be so honored to meet him."

"And a-speaking of the Phantom, Maria," Isabella broke in, "who will be a-playing the Phantom?"

"Isabella," Marie smiled mysteriously. "The answer to that question is stranger than you dreamt it. Now, please. Venez avec moi. Come with me." The group followed picking up new members all over the place. In the dressing room that had been Christine's, they met Chanel Vignette, the costume and set designer. Hidden behind a Hannibal elephant, was a drunken looking British junkie named Joey Wosten, who they later discovered was playing Buquet. In the Manager's box, they found Tomas and Andre arguing about the proper ways to portray Andre and Firmin in heavily Spanish-accented English. Finally, they had the entire cast onstage for Susana, the Barcelonan music director to warm them up vocally.. Beth and Kate Giry came in late.

"We're sorry, Mother." Beth whispered.

"Just warm them up! Then, Kate, get your script. We'll be doing a read-through." The read-through was going smoothly until Isabella was singing Think of Me.

"When you find, that once again you long to take----"

"OH GOOD LORD, SHUT UP, YOU HARPY!" The voice of a boy not much older than Charlotte rang through the theater. The fire curtain dropped with a loud bang! Maggie's hazel eyes darted around impishly before she sang.

"He's here, the Phantom of the Opera!"

"He's with us, it's the ghost!" Charlotte and the others joined in, turning the incident into a joke. The rest of the read-through went well, with a CD being used for the absent Phantom.

"Eh, bien." Marie announced. "You have an hour for settling into your dressing rooms and eating lunch. Then report back here for the blocking of the Prologue, Overture, and learning the music to Masquerade. Charlotte, stay for a moment. I want a word with you about Lecia." Lecia had been Mamon's given name.

"Who was that I heard?" Charlotte asked.

"The Phantom's descendant." Marie answered and pressed a crumpled paper package into Charlotte's hands. "Your grandmother sent this to me before she died. I was to give it to you during this production."

"What is it? "I don't know. That is for you to discover. Now go."

In her dressing room, Charlotte opened the package and an envelope and leather diary fell out. Charlotte picked up the letter, half-expecting another package and envelope inside this one. But instead, there was a letter in Mamon's spidery handwriting:

_Ma petite-fille chérie, _

_I have watched over you since your parent's death. Now my life is almost over, and you are ready to assume the legacy of our family. I have the diary of Christine Daae, which I now pass on to you. Open it. Read it. Use its knowledge, ma petite._

_Loving you for eternity,_

_Mamon_

Tears filled Charlotte's eyes. "Oh, Mamon." Mamon had always called her 'my darling granddaughter' in French. Charlotte lifted up the diary, humming the lullaby her father had written for her when she was three weeks old. She turned the pages absentmindedly, then stopped short. On the last page, was the signature of 'Erik Mulheim, The Phantom of the Opera.' She read the letter again. And again.

*****

It should be obvious that the read-through had not gone unnoticed by the Phantom. Erik Mulheim the Sixth had been unpleasantly shocked to hear Isabella's voice coming through the secret microphones and TV set that had been installed so he could watch rehearsals as well as shows. He was so irritated by the girl's shrieking voice that he'd used the 'ventriloquism' microphone to shout "Oh good lord, shut up, you harpy!" and had used his control panel to drop the fire curtain. But hearing Charlotte's voice was magical, as if a choir of soprano angels had manifested in one being. Seeing her through the two-way mirror of Christine's dressing room was even harder. Was this what the original Phantom had felt? This incessant longing for a girl that, deep down, he knew could never love him back? His feelings were only proven when a boy who looked a hell of a lot like Edward Cullen entered the room. What girl would want Erik when she could have that so…so….goddamn perfect boy? It was just plain irrational, given the petty can't-see-past-the-hot-body opinions of girls these days.

"I can't." he moaned. "I just can't do it. I'm not you!" He yelled at the portrait of the first Phantom. "I'm not you! Oh, Jesus! I'm talking to a portrait! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GIRL DOING TO ME?!?!?"

Charlotte's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Go away, Edward!" She had spun to face the 'perfect' boy. "I told you, it's over!"

"Lottie, please!" He grabbed her hand, trying to pull her closer. "Give me another chance! You honestly don't believe we don't have a shot? We were perfect together!"

"That," Charlotte retorted, "is total BULL SHIT!" She was screaming now. "Don't you get it? I dumped you! We're over! We may be playing Christine and Raoul, but that's not real! If the Phantom had offered me the choice he'd given Christine, I'd have chosen you just to let you die!" She slapped him.

"Lottie, you can't mean that!" He gasped.

"I can, and I do! Oh, and guess what else? After the Phantom had you sufficiently Punjab Lassoed, I'd stay with him!" She snarled. "Now get out!"

It was all Erik needed to hear. In a flash, he had his mask on, was pushing himself across the lake and dashing up the spiral staircase to the mirror. When he got there, Edward was talking again.

"Fine, Lottie. I'll leave, but I won't stop feeling the way I do about you. My offer still stands." He tossed a ticket on the vanity. "It's up to you." With that, he left the room.

"You'd think it was a fuckin' engagement ring!" She muttered. "Asking me to the Andrew Lloyd Webber Film Festival at the Cinema Royale! Can't the idiot see how Maggie looks at him? God, he's such an---" Erik saw the chance he needed and he took it. He sang with his full baritone voice, letting the sound flood both the room and his soul.

"Insolent boy! This slave of fashion! Basking in your glory! Ignorant fool! This brave young suitor! Sharing in my triumph!" He stepped through the mirror and reverted to speech. "Don't be afraid, Mademoiselle Charlotte. I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Erik Mulheim the Sixth, and I'm the current Opera Ghost."

Charlotte smiled graciously. "You are welcome, Monsiuer Mulheim. Well, this is technically your Opera House, right?"

"Yeah. Marie has the rights to do all the improvements, but I own the place." He sat on the ottoman and there was an awkward silence.

"I don't suppose you own a Punjab Lasso?" She asked casually.

"Nope. I prefer to use Phantom powder."

"What's that?" She asked.

"A deadly intoxicant. My dad invented it. I use it on the rats in my home. Anyway, I overheard you talking with Mr. Cullen."

"Cullen? Oh. You mean Edward Finalman." "He has a real last name? He looked so much like Robert Pattinson, I was sure you'd had him walk out of the Twilight series."

"I wish! Edward Finalman is the opposite of Edward Cullen, when it comes to personalities. The worst part is that he's stuck on me."

"But you broke up." He fiddled with his white half-mask.

"Actually, I dumped him. Last year, we were playing Mary and Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar We'd been going strong for two years, and after I sang I Don't Know How To Love Him for the last time, I realize that what I'd said was true, yet it wasn't. I suddenly saw Edward's true colors. He wasn't a Romeo, he was Gaston. He just saw me as a…mannequin."

"I don't think I'm following your analogy." Erik said.

"Okay, it was like he saw me as a doll he could wave around and say 'this is my girlfriend.' There were sparks, but no actual fire."

"Oh, now I understand." He smiled at her. "Hey, I'm just curious. Did you mean it?"

"Excuse me?" She cocked her head to a thirty degree angle, just like his mom had when his dad had said he had big news. "Did I mean what?"

"What you said about making Christine's choice.,"

"Oh. Yes. Yes, I did mean it." Her hand touched a worn leather diary with 'C. Daae' inscribed on the front on top of the vanity. A call sounded.

"All cast members have forty-five minutes left." Marie's voice spoke.

"I should go." Charlotte rose. "I haven't had lunch yet."

"Okay." The left half of his face turned a warm pink. Could I…umm…" He trailed off.

"You can visit as much as you like. Can I visit your home?"

"Yeah, just give me some time to clean up. I'm like sloppiness embodied."

"Oh, you should have seen my room back home. Mamon used to say 'I know you can do better, ma petite. Is it really that hard to keep your boudoir tidy?' She, on the other hand, never even had a wisp of a wisp hair out of her bun. Oh, God, I miss her."

"What happened?"

"She passed away last year. She'd taken care of me for three years…well, actually we took care of each other. My parents died in a car crash on New Year's Day of 2005. It was my fifteenth birthday, and we were coming home from an Avenue Q showing. A truck slipped on an icy patch and rammed into the left half of our car. Mom and Dad died instantly, and I was in the hospital emergency room with an arm and leg broken. Mamon flew out from Paris on the next flight over. After that, she took charge of my upbringing."

"I'm…" He trailed off. What do you say for a girl bearing this much loss? "I'm so sorry. My mom got cancer when I was thirteen. She died nine weeks later. My dad didn't even care."

"That's awful!" Charlotte whispered. "Well, do you want to hang out at my hostel sometime?"

"I think I'll pass. For all I know, it's a black hole."

"Good choice. Well, I'll see you later." She slipped out the door.

Erik drank in the details of what had just happened. "Yes! She's not in love with Cullen! Finally, I have a shot!" He lowered his voice. "And I know I'm going to use it"-----------------------------------------

Well, that's chapter 2.

Charlotte: Gaston?

Me: From Beauty and The Beast. I made you a Broadway nut, you should know this kind of stuff.

Erik: Well, please explain why you gave both of us sob-stories about our parents.

Me: It was supposed to get the two of you to bond through trauma.

Charlotte: Yeah, remind me why we have to be 'together.'

Erik: Hey!

Me: DIDN'T YOU READ CHRISTINE'S DIARY? DON'T YOU KNOW?

Charlotte: I thought I was hooking up with the first Phantom.

Erik: You want to date someone who'd be over 150 years old?

Me: Oh my god, do you know how much I'm stretching my limits just to allow you two out of the story? If I gave Charlotte the first Phantom, Lila Caffee would Punjab me. But she probably will anyway. So shut up or it'll be Kate and Joey taking your places next time. Anywhoo, to my readers, please review!


	3. A 'Friendly' Note

Me: Welcome back to Love Without Sight. We all know we don't own whatever we're writing about .This is a FanFicton website, for god's sake.

Charlotte: Stop yapping You sound like a Chihuahua.

Me: Do you want me to have Edward rape you?

Charlotte: Oh, yes, please. He looks cuter than Erik. I mean, what girl doesn't want to sleep with an Edward Cullen look alike?

Erik: Charlotte, I thought you hate Edward.

Charlotte: Yeah, but I love the Twilight series. I'm on Team Jacob, just so I can have Edward to myself.

Erik (sneezing): Slut.

Charlotte: Well, your entire family is perverted! Exhibit A: A two-way mirror in a woman's private dressing room!

Me: Enough! Damn, this is OOC for you two! You sound like my brothers. Now both of you are getting back in the story, because I'm sure there are hungry readers who are waiting to read and review.

* * *

"Now, the moves are back-step-forward-jete- pirouette to the right- sashay-plie in fourth- and five soutenus to the left We repeat these steps three times." Beth announced, demonstrating the choreography. "Kate, Charlotte, Maggie, you're all very good dancers. Try it." She stepped back as the three girls took the stage. She pressed play on the CD player and the girls began. Maggie and Kate did the moves flawlessly, but Charlotte's mind wandered to Erik. By the fist plie , she fell flat on her face.

"Ow! Dammit, that hurt!" Her two friends helped her up, and a sharp pain ran up her left arm. "Youch!"

"Lottie, your nose is bleeding." Kate remarked. "Someone take her to Chanel. I'm pretty sure she has the first aid kit."

"Hic!" Joey hiccuped. "I'll take-hic!-her. I need the loo."

"After what you've consumed, I'm not surprised." Kate joked flirtatiously. "Go on. Besides, I think le Fantome likes seeing the look on Edward's face when he doesn't get to be Lottie's escort." Edward glared. Smiling snidely, Charlotte pinched her nose and hurried backstage. Joey vanished, looking for the bathrooms.

"Chanel? Chanel?" She called. Chanel poked her curly black hair and sparkly dark eyes out of a gold painted door.

"Mon dieu! Charlotte, come in! What happened?"

"I tripped while we were dancing. I got the bloody nose and my arm really hurts."

"Let me see." With an expert eye, Chanel examined the arm. "It's just a sprain. You'll need a splint, but it can come off in about a week. Wait here, I'll get one for you, and a cotton ball for your nose." Twenty minutes later , Charlotte was hurrying back to the stage.

"Ah, querida. You are just in time. Come." Susana beckoned her forward and reached for her hip flask. "AY! Jose Wosten?"

"Hic?" Joey asked.

"My Amontadillo. Where is it?"Uh?"

"Stop it, you lazy drunk. Where is my 1881 Amontadillo?""Aw, just kick him to Marie. His character is dead at this point, anyway." Edward groaned.

"Yeah, but I think he'd be able to sing 'those who tangle with Don Juan' better than you could." Charlotte snapped. "Susana, could we start please?"

"Oh, by all means, por favor. From the top." Susana's fingers moved down the piano and everyone started singing.

"Masquerade!Paper faces on parade . . .Masquerade!Hide your face,so the world willnever find you!Masquerade!Every face a different shade . . .Masquerade!Look around -there's anothermask behind you!Flash of mauve . . .Splash of puce . . .Fool and king . . .Ghoul and goose . . .Green and black . . .Queen and priest . . .Trace of rouge . . .Face of beast . . .Faces . . .Take your turn, take a rideon the merry-go-round . . .in an inhuman race . . .Eye of gold . . .Thigh of blue . . .True is false . . .Who is who . . .?Curl of lip . . .Swirl of gown . . .Ace of hearts . . .Face of clown . . .Faces . . .Drink it in, drink it up,till you've drownedin the light . . .in the sound . . ." At seven fifteen, Susana stopped them.

"Very good job, everyone. Muy bien. You will most certainly be ready by show time."

"We will see you here tomorrow, at the same time." Marie announced. "You are dismissed."

Charlotte went to the tiny chapel to light a candle for her mother. Ella Miseraie de Chagny had been a world-renowned soprano during the course of her life. She had been only seventeen when she came to New York City to play Pamina in The Magic Flute. Paul de Chagny had been twenty-three and managing the theater where Ella was performing. He'd proposed to her on the night of her final performance and she had accepted.

"Lottie?" Maggie came down and saw her friend gazing at Ella's photo. "What in the world are you doing down here? You were perfect, aside from the little dance mishap." A look of pain flashed across her face. "You and Edward are back together, aren't you?"

Charlotte felt like screaming. She was sick of seeing the longing in Maggie's eyes. Sick of having to cover it up. Sick of feeling guilty every time she had to play or actually was Edward's love interest.

"Nothing happened. I don't like him anymore. Come with me." She took Maggie to the dressing room. "Here. He gave me a ticket to the Webber Film Fest at the Cinema Royale. You go. You'd be sitting right next to him."

"You don't want to go?" Maggie asked.

"I have other plans." Charlotte cocked her head towards the mirror.

"You aren't…oh, god, Charlotte! You can't be serious! You aren't going to…are you NUTS?!?!" Maggie shook her friend. "Lottie! He's dangerous! His ancestor killed two people and tried to kill your own great-great-great grandfather!"

"Which is why I'm going to make amends. Don't worry, Maggie. I'll be fine."

****

Edward hissed through his teeth. He was risking his looks to listen in on Charlotte's conversation, but he might lose it if he didn't calm down. She wanted some disfigured bottom-feeder more than she wanted HIM? Well, fine! If Charlotte didn't return his interest, she was going to pay! Of course, he'd let her be happy for a while, but when she saw the bottom-feeder's true colors, she'd be begging Edward to take her back. And he would…for a price. He wasn't sure exactly what the price would be, but it was going to be major.

****

Free of Maggie, Charlotte turned to the mirror and sang. "Angel of Music, guide and guardian, grant to me your glory. Angel of Music, hide no longer! Secret and strange angel! Angel, I hear you speak, I listen, Stay by my side, guide me. Angel, my soul was weak, forgive me, Enter at last, master."

Erik appeared, his voice ringing out from behind the glass. "I am your angel. Come to me, Angel of Music." Outside, Maggie had heard him.

"Lottie, don't! Edward!!" She called. "Where are you? We've got to stop her." She tugged at the door. "It's locked! Lottie?"

"I am your Angel of Music. Come to me, Angel of Music." Erik repeated. He held out his hand and Charlotte took it, stepping through the mirror.

"Lottie, no!" Edward yelled, But it was too late. Charlotte and Erik had disappeared. Erik led her down a candlelit spiral staircase. When they reached the bottom, Charlotte gasped in delight. Two palominos were tethered to the banister.

"How'd you know I love riding?" She asked.

"I didn't. I thought it'd be…romantic. I had no idea of what to do if you couldn't ride."

She laughed, a sweet bubbly coo. "You'd have to put me on your lap while _you_ rode. Now, let's go. It's been ages since I sat in a saddle.

*****

Back outside the dressing room, Edward was still banging on the door. "Lottie? Charlotte? Angel?" Maggie returned with Marie in tow. Marie slid a key from around her neck and unlocked the door.

"Lottie?" Maggie called, before turning to the mirror. "Grandmama, how will we get through?"

"We won't, Maggie." Marie answered calmly.

"But Lottie's been taken by the Phantom!" Edward protested. "We need to save her before she sees his face and this becomes a repeat of the first Phantom's career!""Well, unless Charlotte's madly in love with you, Edward, I wouldn't worry. Ah, look." She picked up an envelope on the desk. "The ghost has left us a message."

Edward snatched it out of her hands and read:

_Monsieurs, Madames, and Mademoiselles,_

_Do not fear for the safety of your star, Mademoiselle Charlotte de Chagny. She is in my custody, and it is of her own free will. Make no attempt mobilize les gendarmes and swarm down to my residence to 'rescue' her. Yes, I mean you, Monsieur Finalman--"_ Edward faltered. How the hell did this guy know his name? _"I will be keeping watch. Please do obey these commands. I would hate to destroy all of Madame Marie Giry's hard work on refurbishing my theater._

_I remain,_

_Your Obedient,_

_O.G."_

Edward finished and ripped the letter into shreds. "Fuck him! If he didn't have Charlotte at his mercy, I'd go down there right now, and kill him with his own Punjab Lasso!"

******

Me: That's Chapter 3 all wrapped up.

Erik: I liked the letter.

Charlotte: Well, you wrote it.

Me: Actually, I wrote it. In case you guys forgot, it's thanks to me that you even exist!

Charlotte: Blah, blah, blah, Mom.

Erik: MOM?!?!? Charlotte, both our moms are dead.

Charlotte: So is my dad. What's your point?Me: Well, actually, Erik's dad is dead, too.

Both of them: WHAT!?!?!

Me: More on that later. I'm not going to spoil this for our readers.

Erik: A little too late.

Charlotte: oh, that's the best JoJo song ever!Erik: Wow. Non sequitor much?

Me: For those of you who don't know, non sequitor is a Latin term for a totally random thought. And on that thought, see you next time!


	4. Down To The Lair

Me: Chapter Four of Love Without Sight, you are clear for launch. Remember, Phantom of the Opera is not actually owned by me…grrrrrr.

Erik: What's with the astronaut talk?

Me: It's mission control!

Charlotte: It's still creepy.

Me: Whatever. Just get back in the story before I get pissed off.

Erik: I think it's a bit late for that, Cailie.

Me: Get back in there! NOW!

* * *

Charlotte and Erik had tethered the horses back at the underground stables and were now moving smoothly across the lake. Charlotte surveyed the candlelit lake in wonder. "This is amazing. I feel like I'm back in Venice."

"You've been to Venice?" Erik asked.

"Yeah. My mom and I traveled Italy for a summer as my international debut. I've even sung at the Bellini Theatre in Sicily." Charlotte trailed off, lost in thoughts of Ella. "Look, could we talk about something else?"

"I've got a better idea. How about we sing? You start."

"Phantom of the Opera?"

"Why not? You sounded like you were having a bit of trouble there. That vocalizing is pretty hard." He made a conductor's gesture and she began.

"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came . . . That voice which calls to me and speaks my name . . . And do I dream again? For now I find the Phantom of the Opera is there - inside my mind . . ."

Erik took over and his voice reminded Charlotte of the Michael Crawford recording…but a thousand times stronger, braver, and kinder. "Sing once again with me our strange duet . . . My power over you grows stronger yet . . . And though you turn from me, to glance behind, the Phantom of the Opera is there - inside your mind . . ."

"Those who have seen your face draw back in fear . . . I am the mask you wear . . ." Charlotte sang.

"It's me they hear . . ." He responded. They sang together, their voices seeming to blend into one flawless combination.

"Your/my spirit and your/my voice, in one combined: the Phantom of the Opera is there inside your/my mind . . ." They sang all the way to the lair, Charlotte's soul rising with every note.

"Welcome to the Mulheim home, Charlotte. Please make yourself comfortable." Erik said. Charlotte surveyed the messy, homey scene around her. A violin lay haphazardly on the electric powered piano next to the first Phantom's organ. Sheet music covered almost every available surface, along with several replicas of the stage from various operas, _Hannibal_, _Il Muto_, and _Don Juan Triumphant_ among them. A soundboard, microphone, and mini TV sat above a mahogany desk where there was parchment, envelopes, red pens, several sticks of red sealing wax, and a seal engraved with a Phantom mask and a rose. She stepped into the bed room, where the silver swan bed, with its cushy red pillows looked so inviting, she wanted to flop down and sleep for a century. She noticed Erik was no longer with her. She reentered the main lair. "Erik, where'd you go?"

"I'm right here!" He jumped out from behind a black velvet curtain and seized her shoulders.

"Aaaaaaagh!" Charlotte jumped a foot in the air and landed on her back in the water. Her blue skirt fanned out in the water and her hair came loose from its careful braiding. "OH MY GOD!"

"I'm sorry, Charlotte. Here, lemme help you out." He held out his hand to help her out. Charlotte sensed an oppotunity to pull one of the oldest tricks in the book and took it. She seized his hand and yanked him into the lake. "Waagh!"

"That's what you get when you trust me." She grinned evilly, and dove into the water.

"Damn you!" Erik laughed. "Get back here!" Her head popped out of the water about ten feet from a metal grate before she dived under again. "Wait! Charlotte, no! That's the torture chamber!"

"Really?" She resurfaced. "Can I see what's in there? Can I, can I, can I? Please?"

"Maybe later. First, we should get out of these clothes."

"Pervert!" She smacked his arm.

"What? Nah. I just hate the feeling of wet denim, and I doubt that skirt is very comfortable." He stood and helped her out of the water for real.

"True enough." She pulled the sopping fabric away from her thigh.

"Well, there's clothing in the wardrobe. It's a little old fashioned, but I'm pretty sure it'll fit you. See you in a minute." He slipped back behind the black velvet curtain, she returned to the bedroom. Opening the closet door, she surveyed her options. Was that the same Aminta costume Christine had worn? The first Phantom had kept it? Yeesh. Oh, well, why not honor tradition? She pulled the white blouse, black bodice, and yellow skirt and went back into the main area. Erik was standing in the middle of the room, wearing only a dry pair of jeans, and playing the violin. He was playing a tune she recognized.

"Oh, I love 1776!" She clapped her hands in delight and sang. "And it's hi-hi-hi-diddle diddle. Goodbye to the fiddle, my strings are unstrung!"

He smiled and joined in with her. " Hi-hi-hi-hi!" He put down the violin, turned on the piano and started one of the preset tracks. "Clair de lune. May I have this dance, Mademoiselle de Chagny?"

"Of course, Monsieur Mulheim." She took his hand and he twirled her around the lair as they hummed along. Once the song finished, it switched to 'Ti Moune's Dance' from _Once On This Island_. Charlotte surrendered herslef to the music, breaking out into the choreography she'd learned in eigth grade as Ti Moune. She finished dancing and Erik caught her as a new song she didn't recognize started. The last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her was the caress of his cool fingers against her cheek, and the most perfect pair of lips she'd ever felt pressing gently against her own.

**********

I know that was a short chapter, but it's such a nice chapter ending.


	5. Family History

Hey, guys. I'm not allowing Erik and Charlotte out of the story anymore. But you all know what I have to say. So, just imagine I'm writing it.

Some of Erik's thoughts are going to be pretty gushy. You have been warned.

* * *

He had kissed her. Erik's mind was racing. He had kissed Charlotte and she had kissed him right back. He lifted the sleeping girl and carried her into the bedroom singing the most well-known song of the Phantoms to her: Music of the Night.

"Night-time sharpens, heightens each sensation. Darkness stirs and wakes imagination. Silently the senses abandon their defenses … Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor. Grasp it, sense it - tremulous and tender. Turn your face away from the garish light of day, turn your thoughts away from cold, unfeeling light - and listen to the music of the night … Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams! Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before! Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar! And you'll live as you've never lived before … Softly, deftly, music shall surround you … Feel it, hear it, closing in around you … Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind, in this darkness which you know you cannot fight - the darkness of the music of the night … Let your mind start a journey through a strange new world! Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before! Let your soul take you where you long to be!"

He placed her gently on the bed. "Only then can you belong to me … Floating, falling, sweet intoxication! Touch me, trust me savour each sensation! Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write - the power of the music of the night …" He kissed her on the forehead, gently. "Sleep, my Charlotte. Sweet dreams, love." He sang again. "You alone can make my song take flight - help me make the music of the night . . ."

He slipped behind the black curtain into the sanctuary. Originally, the sanctuary had been hidden behind a mirror, until Erik Mulheim the First had smashed it to pieces. The passageway he had used to escape was still there, along with a small cot and electric stove, but the sanctuary's real purpose was completely different. It was a shrine to the loves of the Phantoms: the women each generation of Mulheim men had fallen hopelessly in love with, only to be rejected. A portrait of each woman stood on their own respective pedestal. Besides Christine, there was Eliza Sataran (Erik Mulheim Jr.) Jeanne Vardeis (Erik Mulheim the Third), Nicola Montmorency (Grampa Erik), and, Dad's passion obsession, Francesca Brujita.

Erik hated thinking about his father. Just days after his mom, Annika, had died of ovarian cancer, his dad had gone after Francesca. He'd scared the exotic Spanish painter so badly, she'd tried to call the police. Erik had been so sickened by the actions, he'd lit some of his father's Phantom powder and thrown it at his dad in a fit of hatred. Both Erik Mulheim the Fifth and Francesca had died instantly. Erik had hidden himself in the sanctuary for a week, horrified by what he'd done. But his purpose in the sanctuary this time was to place a picture of Charlotte on a sixth pedestal.

_This is my shot._ He thought. _Charlotte and I can break the curse if we try, I know it! We have to. I never want to inflict this on an innocent child. I gave into the curse once, and it almost destroyed my soul. I won't allow it to happen again._ He stretched himself out on the cot and fell asleep.

*****November 11, 2009**************

When Erik awoke, he was smiling. "That was the best dream I've ever I wouldn't give for it to have been real."

"For what to be real?" Charlotte appeared. "What is this place?"

He sprang up and hugged her tightly. "It was real! I can't believe it! It was real!"

"Whatever 'it' was, I'm glad." Charlotte gasped. "Now if you don't mind, I can't breathe." He released her and kissed her again and again. He wanted nothing more than to let this moment to last forever.

"Charlotte?" He whispered. Her name rolled off his lips, like a perfect piece of chocolate melting on his tongue, something so sweet you wanted to savor it forever.

"What is it? Erik, is something wrong?" She'd said his name. He had to bite his lips to keep from singing the words that were forming on his lips.

"No, nothing's wrong. Everything's perfect. Now, come on. We better get back before a certain evil vampire calls the police." He took her hand and helped her into the boat.

"You're a laugh, Erik. This is way better than the stupid jokes and nicknames that Edward would make up for me. Ever heard the one about the three immigrants?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Okay, so there are these three guys working on the railroad. One's Italian, one's Chinese, and one's Polish. They all sit down to have lunch and they all get really mad. The Italian guy says, 'If I get another piece of pizza tomorrow, I'm gonna kill myself.' The Chinese and Polish guys say the same thing, except the Chinese guy has egg rolls and the Polish guy has kielbasa. The next day, they all get the same things for lunch, throw themselves in front of an oncoming train, and die. At the funeral, the Italian's wife says, 'If I only had not packed that last slice of pizza.' The Chinese man's wife says, 'If I only had not packed that last egg roll.' They both look at the Polish wife expectantly. She raises her hands and says, 'Hey, don't look at me! He packed his own lunch!'" Erik burst out laughing

"Where'd you get that one?" He snickered.

"Comedy Central's Joke of the Day widget on iGoogle. I get all my best material there." They started telling each other every joke they'd ever heard and laughing at every single one, no matter how bad the jokes actually were. At the end of the lagoon, Charlotte stepped out of the boat by herself. "So, are we… dating now?"

"Only if you want to be." He shrugged. "I mean, we're not exactly at 'lovers' or 'boyfriend and girlfriend' at this point. So, if you want to be dating, then we are."

"Okay." She started up the staircase. "Well, bye."

"I'll keep an eye on you." He winked.

"You're cute when you're spying on me. Creepy, but cute at the same time. You know that?"

"Well, I try." He got out and gave her a good-bye kiss on the cheek. He watched her head up the stairs. As she faded from sight, he murmured her name one last time. "Charlotte." He pushed himself all the way back to the lair singing 'Maria' from _West Side Story _and 'On The Street Where You Live' from _My Fair Lady_.

******************

Charlotte was equally lightheaded, spinning around her dressing room and humming 'I Could Have Danced All Night.' Maggie's voice came through the locked door.

"Lottie? Are you in here?"

"Come on in, Mags." Charlotte sighed dreamily and unlocked the door. Maggie burst in and hugged Charlotte.

"You're safe! Oh, thank God! Did you see his face?"

"No." Charlotte murmured. "But with his voice, who cares what his face looks like?" She pulled Maggie into a waltz and sang. "I only know when he began to dance with me, I could have danced, danced, danced all night! Oh, Maggie, it was the best night of my life!"

Maggie pulled away from Charlotte and slapped her cheek. "Lottie! Wake up! He's dangerous! You deserve better than him!" Edward pulled the door open.

"Lottie! You're safe!" He noticed the sappy smile on Charlotte's face. "Maggie, what happened."

"She's infatuated with the Phantom. You talk her out of it. You're her ex." Maggie shoved Charlotte into Edward's arms, and stomped out, slamming the door and half-sobbing. Edward seemed totally oblivious to his hapless admirer, and held Charlotte tightly. She grimaced and tried to wriggle free.

"Get off of me!" She hissed. "How many times do I have to say it?"

"You seem calmer today. Usually, I'd have a missing tooth by now."

"Oh, well, having a new interest has mellowed me considerably. You know, he's a much better kisser than you."

"And on that note, I suggest you come have breakfast with me, Charlotte. If you spent the night with the Phantom, I doubt that you've eaten." Marie stood in the doorway, smiling. "Edward, you need to go see Susana. I counted at least thirty-nine times that you were flat during Masquerade. You are a disgrace. Keep it up, and I may have to find us a new Raoul." Charlotte giggled and followed Marie out of the room.

In Marie's office, Charlotte had her customary meat lover's omlette and a glass of orange juice. Marie had eggs Benedict and her latest favorite tea, Earl Grey. "So, you saw my nephew." Marie said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Erik's your nephew? Wow, small world." Charlotte twisted her hair around her middle finger.

"Not exactly. He is a distant cousin. You know about Meg's affair with the Phantom?"

"Yeah, she had two kids with him. Erik and Christine, right?"

"Yes. After the birth of her illegitimate twins, Meg married a cousin, James Giry. Erik Mulheim the Third was born as a result of his father meeting a mystery woman he'd met at a masquerade ball."

"Ew! He had sex with someone he didn't know just to have a kid? That's disgusting!"

"It was a case of mistaken identity. Erik Mulheim Jr. was in love with Eliza Sataran at the time. He met the mystery woman believing her to be Eliza. After he believed his son to be old enough, he commited suicide."

"What happened to Christine Mulheim?"

"She vanishes from history when she was in her mid-twenties. Nothing is known of what happened to her afterwards. The Mulheim family has been very unlucky in its sons and love. I care enough about Erik that I have tried to protect him from the world and its cruelties. Do you understand what that means, Charlotte?"

"I can't tell anyone about him? Not even Maggie?"

"Correct. Sweet though Margaret may be, her ridiculous devotion to Edward may lead to betrayal." The idea of Maggie betraying her, even to Edward seemed ludicrous to Charlotte, to use Andre and Firmin's word. "Now, let's go. Your second day of rehearsals is about to start."

*************

"Welcome back, everyone. We're going to be more individual today. Charlotte will be going with Susana to learn and block Think Of Me, Twisted Every Way, and Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. I want everyone who is in Notes to come with me. Everyone who is part of the Opera cast will be learning Don Juan, Hannibal, and Il Muto blocking that doesn't include Carlotta or Christine. Well? Go!"

Susana led Charlotte backstage to a small studio with a piano. "You know the basic notes, Charlotte?"

"Uh-huh. I mean, sí?" Charlotte flushed bright red.

Susana laughed. "Well, then, please start singing Think of Me. I will nitpick once you have finished." She baegan to play and Charlotte stood in the center of the room.

Charlotte closed her eyes and pictured Erik inside the sanctuary, gazing at her picture. He looked at her sheepishly. She smiled and began to sing.

"Think of me… think of me fondly, when we've said good-bye. Remember me, once in a while. Please promise me you'll try. When you find, that once again, you long to take your heart back and be free, if you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me." She continued to sing, her spirit rising. Once she finished, she turned to Susana. "Well? How'd I do?" Susana stared blankly at her. "Um, Susana?"

"Bravi, bravi, bravissimi." Charlotte looked up to see Erik standing on a rafter, dressed in full Phantom attire. He winked at her and swished his cape around his body, seeming to disappear. She giggled and turned back to Susana.

"¡Maravillosa!" Susana finally found her voice. "I could not find a single issue. Please, go straight to Twisted Every Way." Charlotte sang through it flawlessly, as well as Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again. When she finished, Susana's grin was larger than the Cheshire cat's. "You are perfection embodied."

"Or I've been learning those song since I was three. You could say I was born to play Christine." Susana laughed.

"You go have some fun. I will call you fifteen minutes before you need to come back." Charlotte was off in a flash to find Erik.

******

"Where is she?" Edward demanded, advancing up the stairs towards Andre and Tomas. Marie was having them run Notes yet again, and he was getting pissed off.

"You mean Carlotta?" Tomas asked.

"I mean Miss Daae- where is she?" Edward thrust out his arms like it was the most obvious statement in the world.

"Well, how should we know?" Andre snapped.

"I want an answer - I take it that you sent me this note?" Edward interrupted, shoving the note towards the two Spanish boys.

"What's all this nonsense?" Andre demanded.

Tomas asserted his innocence. "Of course not!"

"Don't look at us!" Andre declared.

"She's not with you, then?" Edward raised his eyebrows.

Andre repeated Tomas's line. "Of course not!"

Tomas shrugged. "We're in the dark . . ."

Edward broke in. "Monsieur, don't argue - Isn't this the letter you wrote?"

Andre moaned. "And what is it, that we're meant to have wrote?" He shook his head. "Written!"

Tomas took the note from Edward and read it. "Do not fear for Miss Daae. The Angel of Music has her under his wing. Make no attempt to see her again." He looked up at Edward cuiously. Edward returned the look.

"If you didn't write it, who did?"

"Where is he?" Isabella stormed in, shrieking.

"Ah, welcome back." Tomas said, applying every ounce of cheesy charm he had.

"Your precious patron - where is he?" She repeated. Edward stepped forward, groaning inwardly to continue the scene, wishing Marie would give them a break so he could figure out his Charlotte issue.

*******

Charlotte had been unable to find Erik, so she'd stopped at a small flower stall outside the opera house. After buying five perfect red roses, she hailed a cab to the cemetery where most of the Daae-de Chagny family was buried. She laid two roses on Christine and Raoul's double grave, another on Meg's headstone, and one on the Phantom's tomb. As she placed the final rose at Mamon's crypt, she collapsed, tears forming in her eyes. "Oh, Mamon."

"From the beginning of the aria then, mam'selle." It was Susana's ringtone. Charlotte flipped open her phone.

"Hola. I'm coming."

"Muy bien."


	6. His Face

Me: Hey, everyone. Unlike some people, *cough* Erik and Charlotte *cough*, I keep my promises. Those two misbehaved, so I'm bringing new characters out to talk with. Please welcome... Edward and Maggie!

Edward: This is really stupid.

Maggie: Aw, you're no fun. Why do I have to have a hopeless crush on you?

Me: Are you two going to keep going like this?

Both: Probably.

Me: Ugh, you're worse than Erik and Charlotte!

Maggie: What's your point?

Edward: If we're so annoying, stop taking us out of the story.

Me: Okay, fine. (Kicks them both through the story door) Get back in there, you jerks! Anyway, you guys all know the drill. Of course, I don't own POTO, ALW and Gaston LeRoux do, but I will get it one day...before Lila Caffee does. Mwahahahaha!

Lila: The evil laughter is my thing, Cailie.

Me: Not in this story, Lila. You know, the reason I brought you here was for you to make a shout out.

Lila: Do I have to?

Me: I'll let you test out the Punjab on me.

Lila: Fine. Please read this story and review. And if you like this crap-

Me: HEY!

Lila: My POTO FanFics, The Phantom's Return, Little Dancer, and Phantom Interviews are much better.

Me: Shut up! I'm never letting you over here again!

*************

Charlotte caught a cab, made a quick stop, and still made it to the Opera House with three minutes to spare. She sat in the audience, holding a picnic basket, with the rest of the cast. The opera cast mounted the stage and ran through their blocking. When they finished, a round of applause came from Box Five. When the Notes people went, the applause was much fainter, but someone called out, "Brava, Mademoiselles Giry! Bravo, Tomas y Andre!" Edward and Isabella had similarly pissed off looks, but they left the stage anyway. Charlotte ascended the stage and nodded at Susana. As Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again began, she envisioned her lost family, Mom, Dad, and Mamon. Once she finished, everyone cheered and the next song began.

"Twisted every way... what answer can I give? Am I to risk my life to win the chance to live? Can I betray the man who once inspired my voice? Do I become his prey? Do I have any choice? He kills without a thought, he murders all that's good. I know I can't refuse, and yet I wish I could. Oh, God, if I agree, what horrors wait for me, in this, the Phantom's opera?" Ironic how the song seemed to describe Edward more than it did Erik. Edward had once inspired her, back when she thought she'd loved him. Now that she had Erik, what would Edward do?

It was time for Think of Me, and for this, Charlotte thought of Erik. How he smiled at her, his playful tricks, his sweet gestures, how he was able to understand her so well, his angel's voice, and how much she loved him. She loved him. She just knew it! As she finished in a spiral up, "Of me!" Erik blew her a kiss from Box Five, and Marie saw.

"Very well done. The Phantom is quite pleased. You may all have one hour for lunch." Charlotte hurried backstage with the picnic basket.

"Erik? Where are you?"

"I'm here, the Phantom of the Opera! You cannot escape!" He jumped out from the shadows and hugged her. "What's in the basket?"

"Our lunch. I thought you might like to have a picnic up here. Unless you'd prefer the lair?"

"No, no. This is fine." He removed his cape and spread it out on the floor.

"Well, then, let's see what the Au Bon Pain packed us." She started rummaging around in her basket.

"What? No homemade heart-shaped snacks?' He asked.

"I was at your lair last night. There wasn't any time for me to bake something for you." She pulled out a ham and cheese croissant sandwich to him before biting into her own.

"Lazy." He pinched her arm. She responded by kissing him on the nose. "Nope, you're still lazy." She huffed and turned her back on him. "Aw, come on, Charlotte, I didn't mean it like that!" She didn't respond. "Love?"

"Did you really just say that?" She gasped, turning around to face him.

"You heard me, right?"

"I heard you, but did you mean it?" She twisted her fingers into his messy black hair and felt the tie of his mask. It would be so easy to tear it off, to see his face. No! She couldn't do that! It was up to him whether or not she saw his face. She would not betray him as Christine had betrayed the original Phantom.

"Does this answer your question?" He swept her up in a movie star embrace. Their lips met, and adrenaline made Charlotte feel as if she were flying. Feeling daring, she poked her tongue into his mouth. Even their tongues seemed to belong together, moving in perfect synchronization. Finally, they broke away for need of air.

"Well, even though I think Christine was a total idiot, I'm kind of glad she left the Phantom." Charlotte sighed.

"And why is that?" He asked playfully.

"Because if she hadn't, we wouldn't be together now." And she kissed him again.

******

The rest of the day's rehearsals went fairly smoothly. Edward and Charlotte were sent to Susana to learn All I Ask Of You and Why Have You Brought Me Here. Although, technically, only Edward was learning. Charlotte got it right the first time. It took Edward seventeen times to get it even close to right. At the end of the day, Charlotte headed back to her hostel and collapsed on her bed, dreaming of Erik.

*******

In the shadow of the Opera House, two figures stood, hidden. The taller one spoke first, in English, so as not to be understood by the French caretaker.

"Then we are decided." It was the voice of a young man.

"I have doubts. This is a crime." The other voice belonged to a woman.

"It's for everyone's benefit. I'll take care of the first part."

"Fine, but I'm only doing this for you."

"That's perfectly alright with me." The man leaned down and kissed the woman.

"Bonne nuit."

"Adieu." The two parted into the night, and the stars seemed to take on a new, ominous glow.

****November 12, 2009. Day 3 of rehearsals.************

"Alright. Magical Lasso with me. Charlotte with Susana to sing and block the Phantom-Christine numbers. Everyone except Tomas, Andre, and Edward with Beth for Hannibal. You three boys will go to Chanel for costume fitting and set testing. Go! Go! Go!" Marie clapped her hands three times.

Susana and Charlotte returned to the studio. This time, Susana didn't bother having Charlotte sing. She merely pressed play on the CD player and walked the teenager through the choreography of the title song. They went over it four times together, before Susana let Charlotte do it alone while she played the piano, singing included.

"Almost completely flawless." Susana nodded. "It's just that one last note. But besides that, I think you could do this show all by yourself. You commit it all to memory so easily. Es facil, si?"

"Yes, it's easy. Gracias. Now, how about starting on I Remember?" Needless to say, Charlotte was done within an hour, and Susana let her go again.

She stopped by her dressing room. "Hey, sweetness." Erik wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, yourself. Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." He pointed out.

"Yo know what I mean."

"Sure, fire away."

"Would you... would you ever kill someone? To get to me?"

"No. I've... I've only ever killed..." he trailed off. "Charlotte, you need to know this. I murdered my dad and an innocent woman when I was thirteen years old. It was an accident, but I've never forgiven myself. It's something I never want to do again. I promise you I'll never kill another person, okay?"

"Promise accepted." She kissed him and the delicious sensation reclaimed her. She was snuggling into him, he was pulling her closer... and then, Marie came over the PA system, ruining the moment.

"All cast members report to the stage, please."

"Thanks a lot, Aunt Marie." Erik grumbled. "Go on, love. I need to catch up on some sleep." He gave her one last peck on the cheek before heading into the dressing room for the mirror. Charlotte headed dreamily towards the stage.

*******

The hooded man from the Opera House the night before had seen this small exchange from the shadows. Unknown to the lovestruck young girl, he slipped on a white half-mask identical to Erik's and vanished.

*******

"Hannibal!" Marie ordered. Once they had finished, Erik's applause was a recorded track Marie had planted in a boombox in Box Five. "Magical Lasso!" Kate, Maggie, and the twelve other girls came onstage, but Joey didn't. "Joseph?"

*******

"Why in bloody 'ell did she send back 'ere for?" Joey muttered. "'You got to go to Box Five, Joey' she says. 'Oo does she think I am?" A shadow flashed across the wall of the box. "'Ay, what's-" He was cut off by the unmistakable noose of a Punjab Lasso wrapping around his throat.

**************

"Joey?" Kate called.

"Joey?" Maggie repeated.

"Joey!" Charlotte gasped. Dangling over the edge of Box Five was a Punjab Lasso. And hanging from the end of the lasso was Joey's corpse, eyes staring vacantly, tongue hanging out.

"Lottie!" Edward's grabbed her arm. He must have come straight from Chanel, because he was in an old-fashiond tux. "Come on, we've got to get you out of here!"

"No, and you can't make me!" Charlotte tore away, but she half-wanted to go with him. She'd seen a flash of a white half-mask as Joey's body went over the balcony. Had Erik lied to her? In a flash, she was running backstage, dashing through her dressing room, tugging open the mirror-door and plunging down to the lair. "Erik! Erik!" She ran along the passages and finally reached the lair. "Eri-" she stopped short in the bedroom. "Oh."

For sleep, Erik had removed his mask, and she could now see his face clearly. The right half of his face looked as if someone had shaved it off his skull, chopped it into a thousand pieces and then replaced them carelessly. Instead of looking away in horror, Charlotte reached out to touch his scarred cheek. Just as her fingers brushed his skin, his eyes snapped open.

***********

A/N: Haha! Cliff hanger! I bet you weren't expecting that! Will Charlotte and Erik be doomed, now that she's seen his face? Will Erik follow in the footsteps of the first Phantom? Who are the masked man and woman? Who was it that killed Joey? At least one of these questions will be answered next time! So review and check in soon!


	7. Why?

All right, please, just imagine the disclaimer. Let us proceed straight to the action.

**********

For one long moment, Erik's eyes bored into her own, but Charlotte stood firm, never looking away. Then he reached out and struck her across the cheek, throwing her to the ground. "DAMN IT, CHARLOTTE! HOW COULD YOU? YOU SNEAKY LITTLE DEMON! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?" He screamed. "DO YOU? YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE THIS OPERA HOUSE AGAIN!"

"Erik, I-"

"I TRUSTED YOU! YOU LIED TO ME!" He was scaring her now, and it wasn't his face, but his personality. This boy was different from the Erik she knew. Colder. Harsher. His liquid topaz eyes had become hard amber, glaring at her. He had become a person filled with rage and hatred, a person who had never known love. Why?

"_I LIED TO YOU?_ Oh, that's rich, considering what you did!" She stood and looked him in the eye. "When I kissed you, was that a lie? When I made you a solemn promise, was that a lie?"

He turned away from her. "Why wouldn't they be lies? What would you gain from loving a monster like me?"

"You're nuts if you think I'm upset because of your face. I'm upset because you broke your promise and killed Joey!"

"Now, you're nuts! I didn't kill him"

"Don't even try lying to me! I saw your mask as his corpse went over Box Five! Then, I came down here."

"You were in the audience?"

"Yes."

"Then it couldn't have been me. It takes ten minutes to get from Box Five to here. From the audience, it's only seven minutes. Thus, I would not have had the time to get down here, take off my mask, and pretend to be asleep without you seeing me."

"Oh." She was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry. It's just that I trust you. I didn't know how to deal with the idea of you lying to me."

"Well, I'm sorry I got so upset about you seeing my face. I don't know how to handle the idea of you hating me. Do you want to kiss and make out?"

"You mean kiss and make up?"

"Yeah, that too."

She laughed. "Okay, but stop groping me."

"Awwwwwwww. Come on! We've only ever kissed."

"Oh, don't you dare quote The Princess Bride at me! Later, okay? I've still got Juilliard to think about. Don't you go to college?"

"I did... back when I was thirteen."

"Say what?"

"My dad was tutoring me when I was a kid. I passed high school when I was nine and graduated from Harvard via Internet at age thirteen."

"O-kaaaaay. Well, at least wait until _I'm_ out of college."

"Fine." He brushed his lips against hers.

"Mmm. More." She ordered.

"You're lucky I'm feeling indulgent. Three hundred more kisses."

"Four hundred." She countered.

"Three-twenty-five."

"Three-seventy-five."

"Three hundred fifty."

"Done." They spent the next hour completing the indulgence.

***November 13, 2009, Day 4 of Rehearsals***

No one felt very comfortable about being in the Opera House with the possibility of a murderer, or the Phantom on the loose. So, the day was spent paying last respects to Joey, before his body was sent back to his family in England. Everyone got a chance to speak for Joey, and what they'd liked about him. Maggie had liked his Cockney accent. Kate had like-liked him. Sandro thought he had a good sense of humor. Isabella said he was never very generous about sharing his stash of German chocolate.

"He had German chocolate?" Hans, Chanel's set assistant wailed. "I miss Berlin so much! Why didn't he give me some?"

"Would you be quiet?" Emiko, the Japanese makeup director hissed. "I thought he was very deep, if he didn't have a bottle of something near his lips."

"Yeah." Charlotte agreed. "He was really nice to me when I sprained my wrist." Everyone else said their bit, and Susana finished by saying that he better have left her a bottle of 1871 Amontillado in his will to make up for the one he stole from her. That put everyone in a slightly better mood.

As they were leaving the funeral home, Edward called out to Charlotte. "Hey, Lottie! We're all gonna go get drunk tonight, in honor of Joey. Wanna come?"

"I'd rather have sex with a slug." Charlotte retorted.

"I'd rather make out with a cobra!" He countered.

"I'd rather commit suicide!" She snapped.

"Mon dieu, do not do that!" Chanel cried out. "We have already lost our Buquet. We cannot afford to lose Christine."

"Marie should have thought of that before hiring Edward Finalman." Charlotte snarled. The next day, Joey's younger brother Marty would arrive to take Joey's place.

***December 1, 2009***

In Edward's mind, things had been going on long enough. He took out his cell phone and dialed his father. Jacob Finalman answered with irritation. "Yes, Edward, I have the appointment scheduled."

"Great, Dad, but that's not what I'm calling about."

"Then what is?"

"Are you still friends with the Delia family?"

"Yes."

"Then get me their number. I've got a proposition for them."

***December 2, 2009***

Charlotte picked up her mail at the hostel front desk. The letters she got were crumpled and a few had coffee stains on them. That was what she got for choosing the cheapest hostel in Paris. The only reason she had her own room was because no one else was staying there. She had received a letter from Juilliard, telling her to send them videos of rehearsals and an essay and a note from Erik.

"Charlotte," she read. "Meet me in the stables tomorrow at 8:15, before rehearsal starts. I need to tell you something. See you there. O.G." Why was he being so... brusque? Was it to throw her off? Was he going to surprise her?

******

Marie sent Erik's mail down the chute he'd designed when he was two. He had a monthly lighting bill for the Opera House (ugh), a balance of his stocks (a major investment in Japanese porn), and a letter from Charlotte. Why was she sending him a note when they saw each other on a daily basis?

_We need to talk. I want to see you tomorrow at 8:15, in the stables. See ya then. Charlotte._ It was short and a little rude. He'd go, but he was going to pack some Phantom Powder, as a precaution.

***December 3, 2009, 8:15, behind the stables***

"Erik?" Charlotte called.

"I'm here." He stepped out in full Phantom attire. "What was with the note you sent me?"

"The note I sent you? You sent me a note!" She pulled it out of her jeans.

"Well, then who sent this to me?" He took out his own note.

"Tell me, why does this feel so familiar?" Edward emerged smoothly, and snapped his fingers. "Alright, take him." Two huge thugs appeared and seized Erik. He kicked and struggled, trying to get at the Phantom Powder in his pocket. One of the men took out a white cloth and clamped it over his nose and mouth. Erik wriggled for another moment, then his body went limp. Chloroform!

"Well?" Edward demanded. "Is this him?"

"Lessee 'is face." One of the men yanked off Erik's mask and jerked his face roughly towards the light. "Oh, yes. This is 'im, alright. We'll take 'im. 'Ere's the pay we agreed on." He tossed a bag to Edward, who deftly caught it. Charlotte gasped and whirled on him.

"You're selling him?!?! How could you?"

Edward shrugged impassively. "You can save him, Lottie. All you have to do is say yes to one little question." He didn't say what the question was, but Charlotte knew what. She glanced at the limp form of her boyfriend in the thugs' arms. Was this what had been running through Christine's head when she made the choice to save Raoul? Her heart was screaming at her to say no, to stay faithful to the boy she loved. Her head was telling her to say yes, and save him.

"All right." She whispered softly. "I'm yours. But only to save him."

"Thanks, Lottie." He kissed her fully, and for once, she didn't resist. If she did, he might hurt Erik. When he pulled away, he turned back to the thugs. "Okay. Go on, take him. I've got what I want now."

"What?!? Edward, you promised!"

"I know. I was lying. And you better get used to it, because you're mine, now."

"Forget it!" She hissed. Edward snapped his fingers and Ugly Thug #2 began to tighten his hands around Erik's throat. "Stop it!"

"Then let them take him." Edward whispered. "I'll see you in rehearsal." Both he, the thugs, and Erik vanished. Charlotte was left alone. She slowly sank to the floor and lifted up Erik's mask, rocking back and forth and sobbing uncontrollably. "Idiot. Are you any better than Christine?"

******

When Erik woke up, his joints were sore, his head throbbed and his face felt like someone had put it through a WeedWhacker. "Ow." He mumbled. Someone must have touched it pretty roughly.

"You're awake." A flute-like, alto voice chirped. Instinctively, he jerked his hand up over his scars. A freckled girl who could have been Ginny Weasley's twin sister grinned at him with slightly crooked white teeth. " I thought you might have been in a coma. Chloroform does that to some people. BTW, I'm Emma Delia. I work here, too. I'm a contortionist, and my dad owns the place. What's your thing? You know, we haven't used this cage since the Devil's Child murdered my... how many greats is it?"

Oh, crap. He was stuck in a cage at the same carnival where the first Phantom had escaped from all those years ago. Erik lowered his hand and Emma yelped. "Four. Because the Devil's Child was my great-great-great grandfather."

"No way! That's so creepy! Are you planning on murdering me?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, then, here." Emma tossed a Big Mac in the cage. "That's dinner. I hope you enjoy, though I don't know why you would. Fast food's practically all we ever eat, and I'm pretty sick of it."

"EMMA! Git yerself outta there! Do ye want ta end up like yer great-great-great-great grandfather? Ye stay away from that freak." It was the dark swarthy thug who'd grabbed him. "Ye 'ear that, ye little beast?" He snarled at Erik. "This is a well-deserved revenge!"

"Yeah?" Erik screamed through the cage. "What did I ever do to you? Did I hurt you? Murder you? Steal something from you? No! I did nothing!" The man pulled out a whip and streaked it across Erik's ribcage five times. "AAAGH!"

"There's plenty more of that. You are our property now, we can do what we like with you."

"Someone will come for me. Charlotte, Aunt Marie."

"Charlotte, eh? Nah, she'll be too busy with 'er new boyfriend. I saw 'em kissin' , and she wasn't puttin' up a fight. Suck on 'at, a moment, would ya? G'Night."

No. No. No. Why? Why did it have to end like this?

*********

A/N: You'd think that this is is going to be the end....but it's not! This is a mini plot!


	8. Return to The Opera Populaire

A/N: All right, let's recap. In a stroke of evil brilliance, Edward contacted the Delia family (If you've read Gaston LeRoux's novel, you know Mme. Delia is the owner's wife and ventriloquist the carnival where the first Phantom lived). Sending both Charlotte and Erik notes to meet at 8:15 behind the stables, he pulled the same choice on Charlotte that the Phantom had given Christine. She caved, and Edward went back on his word. Now, she's stuck engaged to him, and Erik's stuck in a cage at a carnival. And as we know, I don't own POTO, Avenue Q or Ragtime. Yeah, I'm using Ahrens and Flaherty lyrics in a ALW based fanfic. Don't criticize-

Lila: You know, you've still got a very lame and predictable plot going on.

Me: Lila, one, what are you doing here, two, I don't recall asking for your opinion, and three

Lila: You're just annoyed because you know I'm right.

Me: You are not right!

Lila: Exhibit A of how right I am. You go into denial.

Me: Go away.

Lila: No, I don't think I will.

Me: Three, you're evil.

Lila: Say something we don't already know. Or just get your stupid fanfic up before I have my friends critique you off this site.

Me: Grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Fine.

******

"Hey, guys!" Edward hopped up on the stage. "Before we go, I've got some awesome news. After about three weeks of playing hard-to-get, Charlotte has finally said yes to a major offer. We're engaged!"

Everyone was quiet for about thirty seconds. Charlotte pulled up the hood of her sweatshirt as Maggie stared at her in horror. Then noise erupted everywhere. The girls in the cast swarmed around Charlotte with their congratulations. Edward was getting fist bumps and high-fives from his buddies.

"Amigo, you have the most amazing luck." Andre declared. " Great looks, a good voice, the role of Raoul, and now, _la chica caliente_."

"La chica caliente?" Kate, who had never passed fifth-grade Spanish, asked.

"The hot chick." Charlotte grumbled through her teeth.

******

Erik lay crumpled on the cage floor, clutching at his side. The pain of the whip was still fresh, like five streaks of fire across his ribs.

"You feeling any better?" Emma was back.

"I thought you're not supposed be in here." He tried to smile, but couldn't quite pull it off.

"It's break time. We spend it on the piano, dancing, or singing off key. The underage kids get juice, and everyone else gets some kind of booze. Wanna do it?"

"Singing off key? No thanks, I'm a musician."

"Well then, Mr. High-and-Mighty-Musician, why not teach us how to sing properly?"

"What have you got in the repetoir?"

"Ahrens and Flaherty's Ragtime. Couple of Beatles and Elvis hits. A few jazz pieces."

"I think we'll go with Ragtime. Set up 'His Name Was Coalhouse Walker' and I'll make a few changes. So, will I be getting out of here, or will you be carting the piano into the cage?"

Emma laughed. "Hey, that's funny. You know, you're actually kinda cool." She took a key from around her neck and turned it in the lock. The door swung open and Erik stepped out. "C'mon."

The break tent was rowdy. The grown-ups were doing old dances, like the jitterbug. Most of the younger circus members were banging random keys on the ancient piano. A boy with big hands, large arms, and curly brown hair almost as messy as Erik's saw Emma. "Hey, sissy! Is this him?"

"Oh, who do you think you're calling a sissy?" Emma launched herself at the boy, curling into a tiny ball. The boy caught her in one hand.

"Whoa!" Erik cried.

"Erik, this is my brother, Max. He's our strong man."

"Hey, Erik." Max stuck out one of his enormous hands and shook firmly. "We put the music on the piano."

"Cool." Erik sat down and spent a few minutes making changes to the lyrics. Once he was done, he passed out copies and taught everyone the melody in their respective octave.

"Okay, let's try it. 1...2...3!"

"His name was Erik Mulheim." Everyone sang, and it was semi-decent.

"Was a native of Paris from some years before." Max tried. He had a pretty good voice for someone with no training.

"When he heard the music of Scott Joplin." Racquel, the psychic joined in.

"In Paris." Max's twin, Ray took his solo.

"Bought himself some piano lessons working as a stevedore." Emma sang.

"Here was a music that truly inspired." The twins jumped back in.

"Dancers required him." The women chorused.

"Club owners hired him." The men countered.

Then they all sang. "The strivers of Paris respected and admired him for turning Paris into art." Erik took complete control in his solo, letting every note ring true.

"But Erik had a broken heart. The Good Lord looked down, saw me lonely and loveless, and thought to Himself: "Enough is enough. I'm putting Charlotte in Erik's life." And he did. This wasn't a woman. This was an angel, a gift of God. Erik loved this woman, but not wisely and not too well. She left me without a word or trace. There was no pity for me."

"None whatsoever, Erik." Emma snapped her fingers sassily. Everyone laughed at Emma's cheeky performance. Erik grinned, and felt better than he had since the chloroform, but he remembered the pain he felt over losing Charlotte.

"Now she is haunting me just like a melody- the only song I seem to know. Charlotte, my life has changed. Charlotte, I miss you so. Charlotte, I did you wrong. Charlotte, where did you go?"

Racquel was falling on her friends' shoulders, in tears. "Erik, that is the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. Like an angel."

"Angel?" Erik moaned. His head dropped on the keys, hitting about three octaves. Angel of Music!

"Hey, are you okay?" Max pulled Erik's head up.

"If being depressed over losing the love of my life is the new 'okay,' then yeah."

***December 4, 2009***

Remember how Charlotte took a fall on the first day of rehearsals? Well, now she was stumbling over every step of routines she'd had down cold. "Mon dieu! Enough!" Marie cried out. "The dancing is a lamentable mess, and Charlotte, I am the most disappointed in you. We'd best try something else."

Unfortunately, singing faired no better. Charlotte felt extremely self-conscious singing 'All I Ask Of You.' She hit flat notes, her voice cracked, and she didn't breathe in the right spots.

"Ay Dios mio! Charlotte, no comprendo que pasar a tu!" (Oh my God! Charlotte, I don't understand what's happened to you!) Susana started literally ripping out her hair. "Maria, I think she's overwhelmed. Perhaps a break is in order."

"We don't have time. We are only three weeks from opening night. Charlotte, I suggest you go to Chanel."

"Kay, whatever." Anywhere to get away from Edward's pond-scum green eyes staring at her.

Chanel was in the set studio, working with Hans. "So, add another five inches to the platform. That way, we'll get up to the area where the dressing room will be behind the scrim. We also need to install the passageway that leads to the platform and affix the stairway."

"Hey, Chan." Charlotte interrupted.

"Ah! Charlotte! Perfect! I just finished! I still can't believe you and Edward made your announcement on the day I finished the wedding gown. Now come on, I want to see how magnifique you look in it."

UGH! Everything reminded her about how she'd betrayed Erik. Chanel fussed over her in the stupid dress for about forty-five minutes. In fact, they might have been there all night, if Marie hadn't come in to tell them it was time to go.

***December 9, 2009***

"You've gotta go." Emma's voice was urgent as she dropped off the nightly Big Mac.

"What?" He looked up at her. She dangled the key around her neck in front of him.

"Tomorrow's payday. Everyone's gonna be drunk and we're gonna bust outta here."

"I repeat, what?"

"Look, I can tell you deserve more than this crappy life. You must've had a great life, and you sound like you really love that Charlotte girl. And look at you now! You look like a filthy skeleton. I'm offering you a way out. All you have to do is take me along."

"For the third time, what?"

"I hate this, okay? I want to use my talents when I want to, not because I have to. I want to eat something other than fast food, and I want to stop hanging around my always-drunk father."

"What about your friends?"

"Don't have any."

"Your brothers?"

"I'll cope. So, do we have a deal?"

If he took this chance, he might see Charlotte again. It was a no-brainer. "We have a deal."

***December 10, 2009***

"Hey, Charlotte!" Tomas called.

"Yeah?"

"Edward wants you."

"Great." She moaned.

"You hate me that much?" Edward stepped out of the costume room and wiggled his cell phone, reminding her that, with one call, Erik could die.

"Come with me." She yanked him into her dressing room and locked the door. "Okay, let's get this straight. I despise you. Technically, we're not engaged. You're blackmailing me into it. It's not an engagement, it's a crime!"

_**PAUSE**_

_Me: Hey, Cailie here. Yes, that line is a play off Raoul's line in Masquerade. _

_Lila: It's lame._

_Me: I thought that_

_it was funny, and_

_I told you to go away!_

_Lila: Yeah, you did, but I didn't listen._

_Me: Why am I not surprised._

_**RESUME**_

"Call it what ever you want, but you were the one who agreed to it." Edward shrugged and unlocked the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Charlotte murmured. Tomorrow would be even worse. She'd been getting steadily worse since the Incident. She'd sunken into a depression. Nothing that had once held joy for her. She'd gone from songs like 'I Feel Pretty' to 'Coalhouse's Soliloquy.' Songs filled with pain, rage and loss.

***December 13, 2009***

"Hey, Charlotte? Marie's letting us stay in and have fun, since it's snowing out. We've got the score to Ragtime. Do you want to join the sing-along? You can be Mother, since Edward's claimed Father." Andre called.

"When you put it that way, I'll take Sarah, gracias, Andre."

"Fine with me, but I'm just warning you now. I called Coalhouse."

"Cool with me."

******

After three days on the run with Emma, Erik was thoroughly exhausted. "I thought you didn't want to eat any more fast food."

"Desperate times, desperate measures." Emma shrugged. "Okay, surrondings check. We're at…" She looked up. "Some kind of theater." Erik followed her gaze.

"Home." He whispered. It was the Opera Populaire! He could hear the gentle sounds of a piano. It was 'New Music' from Ragtime. "Emma, this is where we have to say goodbye. I've come to where I came from. I want to thank you for everything you've done for me."

"It's no problem, really. "

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll manage." Emma hugged him tightly. "Goodbye, Erik."

******

The entire cast began to sing again. "His fingers stoke those keys, and every note says 'please', and every chord says 'Turn my way.' I thought I knew what love was but these lovers play new music! Haunting me, and somehow taunting me-My love was never half as true." Just as Andre began to sing Coalhouse's solo, a new voice slid over his. A stronger, bolder, better voice, using different lyrics.

"Charlotte, my life has changed. Charlotte, you've got to see. Charlotte, I've come for you! Charlotte, come back to me…" It had to be a dream.

Charlotte sang, and for the first time, she sounded like her normal self. "You and your music singing deep in me, making nice to me, saying something so new-" She was dying to hear _him_ respond, but only Andre sang. They finished the song , and Charlotte took off like an arrow from a bow. "Erik? Erik, where did you go?"

But her boyfriend had vanished. It must have been her imagination. In fact, it had been Erik's voice, but a hollow version of it. An echo, not a genuine.

***December 14, 2009***

"No, no, no." Charlotte muttered, deleting another three paragraphs from her essay. The worry from Erik and the question of her own sanity was devouring her life. Her voice had cracked more times than she could count, her normally smooth face was turning into Breakout Central, and now she had writer's block on her Juilliard essay. Furthermore, Edward was camped out in the living room area of her hostel, probably watching some pervy video on the TV and running up _her_ bill. She fidgeted with the disgustingly ostentatious engagement ring on her finger. She took out her metallic blue iPod Nano (16GB) and scrolled through her recorded files. She found the version of 'Fantasies Come True' that she'd recorded for Erik to put on a CD for him as a Christmas gift.

"All those days I missed the signs. Couldn't read between the lines. Who'd have thought I would see the day where I'd hear you say what I heard you say? And now I find what was always in my mind was in your mind too. Who knew? Fantasies come true. And now I see that what I always dreamed of was meant to be: You and me and you, fantasies come true."

She heard his voice again, but this time it seemed real. "You and me lived in fantasy, but soon we'll be a reality."

Not wanting to lose this opportunity, she kept singing and he sang with her. "Cuz now, my love, I'm getting what I've always been dreaming of. So are you, oh baby, fantasies come true. And now, I swear that when you want me, I'm gonna be right there to care for you."

She sang alone, and felt someone's lips brush her hair. "That's what I'm gonna do." The smooth cool lips moved to her cheek.

"And make your fantasies... Fantasies come true." They sang together. Erik spun her around and kissed her, singing softly.

"Fantasies come true."

"It's you. You're back. You're alive. I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything." He whispered, kissing her again. It was a kiss worthy of a reunion between Romeo and Juliet, had the two lived, and been given a happy ending.

******

A/N: All I want to say here is _awwwwww _and plz review!


	9. Let Us Meet the Phantom

A/N: Yadda yadda yadda. Disclaimers are boring. I hate having to write them, but I know we need to confirm that we don't own whatever we're writing Fanfics for.

Lila: You know, this is the one place where you managed to write something cute.

Me: You're too kind. Besides, you're really saying you love it. Why else would you use one of _my_ jokes from this chapter?

Lila: No comment.

Me: You practically admitted it.

Lila: If I make a comment after saying no comment, then I'll look like a complete arse, won't I?

Me: Yeah.

Lila: Then, no comment.

******

Edward was channel surfing when he heard the singing. With inhuman strength, he yanked open the locked door. "Get back, you bastard! She's mine now!" The two lovebirds whirled around. Erik slid Charlotte behind him to shield her from Edward's rage.

"Erik, it's okay. Let me talk to him." Charlotte slipped back in front and jerked the ring off her finger. "Our 'engagement' is over. Go find some slut who would actually want you, okay?" With amazing accuracy for someone who hated sports, she threw the ring at him, and it landed three centimeters below his right eye.

"Ow! Lottie, that hurt!"

"Oh, really? I'm so sorry. Let me kiss it and make it better." She simpered sarcastically.

"That's more like it." Edward closed his eyes, expecting a kiss. "Come on, Lottie. Make it better." Erik and Charlotte exchanged a grin and she nodded. He struck Edward squarely in the jaw, knocking his rival to the ground.

"Whoa, that felt good. Do you want a turn, Charlotte?" He pulled Edward up and pinned his arm behind his back. She made a fist and hit right on the nose. "Nice."

"Thanks. Well, I guess we've learned our lesson, haven't we, Erik? And I suppose you have too, Edward. Now, if you'll excuse us, we're going to go have some private time. See ya." They left Edward and shut the door behind them. When he was alone, Edward raised a hand to his smarting face.

"Now," he hissed, "let it be war upon you both."

***December 15, 2009***

For some reason, Edward was not in rehearsal that day. So, they ran all the numbers that didn't include Raoul several times, since there weren't very many of them. At lunch, Charlotte met Erik in Box Five.

"I missed you, Angel." He kissed her.

"Not as much as I missed you. I told you what happened to me. Now you tell your story."

"Okay, let's see. I got stuffed into the first Phantom's cage, whipped, and underfed on greasy food. The only good parts were Emma and the one break where they let me out and let me sing."

"Who's Emma?"

"She was the owner's daughter, and the circus contortionist. Overly cheerful, but really friendly." He noticed Charlotte's sullen face. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me you're jealous! I only liked her as a friend. I promise."

"Oh. Well, I guess we were both miserable without each other."

"I don't know. I mean, countless voice cracks within one day? God knows I don't want to be associated with that!"

_**PAUSE**_

_Lila: And there's the one cute moment._

_Me: STFU!_

_**RESUME**_

"Jerk."

"Shrieker."

"Apparition!"

"Hypocrite!"

"Murderer!"

"Idiot!"

"Carcass!" She kissed him. "Beat that!"

"The insult or the kiss?"

"Yes." She said teasingly.

"Viper!" He gave her a warm, tender kiss, like hot chocolate with a blanket on a cold day.

"Gargoyle!"

"Demon!"

"Monster!"

"Delilah!" The kissing was getting to the point where most people try to break a world record.

"Oh, that reminds me." She rummaged through her worn leather satchel and pulled out his mask. "Here. I used it like a teddy bear while you were gone. Do you mind?"

"Not at all." He refastened the mask for the first time in eight days. "That only improves it. Wait a second." He sniffed it. "Why does it smell like lavender and vanilla with a hint of cinnamon?"

Charlotte blushed. "I, um, washed it a couple of times with my favorite soap. It got kind of dirty when those thugs dropped it in the stables. You don't want to stick your face in horse shit, am I right?"

"How'd you guess?" He laughed. "It smells like you now."

"I smell?"

"Oh. Um, good smell. Like flowers… and other good-smelling stuff?"

"You get an A for effort, Erik, but an epic fail for a convincing performance. You're going to have to try harder."

"You want me to lie to you?"

"If you're going to be a successful Phantom when we open, then yes."

"How'd you know I was going to play the Phantom?"

"Marie told me to practice 'our' numbers together."

"Oh. Crap. Well, the lair is a good place for some of those numbers."

"Unless you can make it seem like we're in a cemetery, singing 'Wandering Child,' I don't think so. I repeat, fail."

"Maybe you'd like to go back to Edward, then. He's a believable liar, isn't he?"

"Too believable. I'd rather have a sweet, sucky liar like you than a jerk like him. What I meant was that I need to believe you're upset, or in pain, or throwing a fit of rage. Make your eyes do that weird, cold, solidifying thing."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you're mad, your eyes go cold, dark and solid. Like when you caught me looking at your face for the first time, or when you hit Edward."

"Okay, now let me give you an example. Down Once More. You need to make me believe that you're upset enough to kidnap me, force me into a wedding dress, almost rape me, attempt to murder my lover, and force me to choose between the two of you. Make me feel that I don't know you. _Become_ the shunned, deluded, despised man who would do anything for love." She seductively pulled him closer, then pushed him away.

He wrapped his arms around her. "I can do the shunned, despised and love parts, but I'm not sure about deluded."

"We can watch the 2004 movie, if you want. Gerard Butler did an amazing job." She snuggled into him into his chest and he gasped in pain. "Oh, God, I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"That's where they whipped me. It still hurts, but I'll be fine. Look, you should go. You need to eat lunch before Marie calls you back. Besides, I need to meet with her to go over some business stuff."

***December 18, 2009: The First Dress Rehearsal***

They were a week away from opening night. The entire cast now knew that Charlotte had dumped Edward, and wondered why. That was one of two questions. The other was 'Who is playing the Phantom?' Charlotte was changing into her Hannibal slave costume in the dressing room. Erik was setting up backstage for his big entrance. They'd be going public in about twenty minutes. Once that happened, there was no going back. This was the true point of no return.

******

"All right, everyone, circle up." Marie ordered. The cast and crew formed a circle holding each other's hands. Charlotte was next to Maggie and Marie, although she was only holding Maggie's hand. "Now, I want to tell you all how proud I am of you. You are the best young singers, dancers, actors, and actresses of this world. You have all worked extremely hard, and you all deserve this. You are all ready. We have a beautiful and talented Christine, a charming Raoul, a sweet Meg, a glorious Carlotta, two lovable managers, a perfect Piangi…." Marie gave everyone a compliment in turn, even the stage hands. "As you all know, there is still a Phantom in the Opera House. And he has graciously agreed to become our Phantom in this production." The lights went off with a loud _bang_! When they came back on, Erik stood in the center of the circle, holding onto a Punjab lasso from the center of the ceiling.

"Why so silent, mes amis? Do you honestly believe it was I who killed our Monsieur Wosten?" Charlotte giggled and stepped out of the circle to take his hand and kiss his cheek. "As you can see, Mam'selle Charlotte trusts me, and I know her to be an excellent judge of character." He gave Edward a look that said, 'ha-ha, she likes me better.'

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend, Erik Mulheim VI. He's the descendant of the real Phantom."

******

Edward called up a few of his friends for some extra muscle and confronted Erik head-on. "Hey. New guy." Erik turned.

"I have a name, you know, Monsieur Finalman. I suppose you want to talk about Charlotte?"

"Yeah, that's exactly it. I want to know exactly what you've put my girlfriend on!"

"_Your_ girlfriend? Last time I checked, she dumped you last year, during _Jesus Christ Superstar_. Right after 'I Don't Know How To Love Him,' wasn't it?"

"Oh-hhhh. Sauced!" Jakkob, one of the stagehands, snapped his fingers. Edward gave his friend an evil look. He knew Jakkob was Dutch and loved American terms of dissing, but now was not the time

"It means nothing! She's my girl! She has been since we were in the kids' ensemble of _Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor© Dreamcoat_!" Edward snarled.

"Ay, Dios, what do these Andrew Lloyd Webber shows do to relationships these days?" Andre asked. The other guys laughed, but Erik kept eye contact with Edward.

"Why aren't you over her by now? You look like Robert Pattinson, for crying out loud! You could have almost any girl here! Maggie, Kate, Isa ... no, wait, Isabella's with Sandro, but that's not the point."

"Then what is, gargoyle?"

"I'm gonna let that slide for four reasons. One, I promised Charlotte I wouldn't kill anyone. Two, I know you're just trying to annoy me. Three, Marie will kill me if I mess up that pretty-boy face of yours, although the girly hair extensions do nothing for you. And, four, you're jealous that Charlotte loves me and not you. That is my point. You need to get over her and move on, like she has. So, adieu, Monsieur le Viscomte. Enjoy your time as Christine's lover, because once this production is over, Charlotte and I are moving in together. And, once she's done with college…" He broke off and hummed a few bars of the Wedding March. "Got it? As far as she's concerned, you're just a memory, a fling of the past, etc."

"Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of yourself there, Mulheim?"

"Nope. In fact, Charlotte's the one who suggested that plan."

"Funny, I didn't see a ring on Lottie's finger."

"Yeah. I'm still trying to find the ring that the first Phantom gave Christine." Edward gave him a blank stare. "What? I thought it seemed fitting."

"Oh, yeah, like a piece of jewelry's gonna make up for the fact that you're practically imprisoning her in the Opera House with you for the rest of her life. How delusional can you get?"

"I'd rather be delusional and in love, than bitter and sensible. Au revoir." Erik sauntered off.

"Dude, do you know how badly he just pwned you?" Jakkob asked.

"Shut up!" Edward ordered. "It's not over yet."

******

A/N: Oooh, that was probably the best argument I've ever written.

Lila_ (Twirling a Punjab lasso)_: Why did you take my girly-hair comment?

Me: I thought you'd appreciate it. After all, imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

Lila: Well, then, I'm really flattering the Phantom._ (She throws the lasso around my neck and cackles maniacally.)_

Me_ (Choking)_: Someone save me!


	10. Dress Rehearsal One

A/N: Thank God. I'm alive.

Lila: Only long enough to finish this chapter.

Me: Empty threats really don't become you.

Lila: Who says they're empty?

Me: Get out of here!

Lila: You stole my idea!

Me: Technically, I took it from the 2004 movie.

Lila: Yeah, but Meg? Little Dancer? MINE!

Me: Poetic license! Allusions! Creative leeway! HE-E-E-LP! Just a reminder, Andre is the one playing Firmin. Tomas is Andre. Ha-ha-ha. Ironic. _(Lila throws the Punjab around my neck. As I am choking) _Lila… please… stop… My… readers… need me... to… update... chapter… gak!

******

Charlotte nestled herself into one of the platforms. Chanel ran along the edge of the stage, placing dust-gray cloths over the dancers. For the Prologue, Marie had decided that the opera cast would be the 'statues' of the Opera House. They would 'come to life' as the Overture began. She managed to hold the position for the most part, but at one point, her nose got an insane itch, and she had to wrinkle it.

"Gentlemen." Robby, the auctioneer announced, finishing his chandelier monologue. There was the loud sound of fuses as the dancers slipped off the platforms. The dusty bare chandelier vanished and Hans lowered the simpler of two Plexiglas chandeliers. Several of the other stage hands rolled on the set for the 'new' Opera House. Most of the girls started the choreography Beth had taught them on the first day. Maggie and Charlotte were in front. After eight bars, Charlotte nudged Maggie and placed a finger to her lips. Maggie nodded and Charlotte hurried off. Lights behind the scrim lit up, revealing the dressing room on a platform, where Isabella stormed out. Charlotte slipped inside and began to vocalize along with the orchestra. Just before Elissa's aria, Kate rushed in, grabbed Charlotte and pulled her back offstage. They returned to the stage just in time. Until Charlotte went onstage with the other dancers, Erik covered her ear and she covered his.

"Carlotta-Insulation™ ." He joked. The rehearsal continued perfectly. Charlotte remembered the _correct_ place to stumble this time.

"You! Christine Daae! Concentrate, girl!"

"Christine, what's the matter?" Maggie whispered as Charlotte bowed her head and focused on her feet. She didn't focus on the conversation until she heard Tomas.

"Isn't there a rather marvelous aria for Elissa in Act Three of _Hannibal_?" It was the cue to get to the sides of the stage.

"Please, Signora, would you favor us with a private rendition?"

"If my mangers command." Isabella simpered. "Monsieur Reyer?"

"If my diva commands." Viktor grumbled. He hopped into the actual pit and began 'conducting.'

Isabella started singing and Charlotte caught sight of Erik sticking out his tongue with the Punjab lasso from the prop table wrapped around his neck. She giggled and got an elbow in the ribs from Louisa, one of the dancers. Hans dropped the curtain, everyone sang, and a new conversation started. Charlotte pretended to be talking to Louisa and a few other dancers.

"Surely there must be an… an… understudy. Yes, an understudy!"

"There is no understudy, Monsieur. The production is new."

"Christine Daae could sing it, sir!" Maggie chirped in her baby angel's voice.

"What, a chorus girl?"

"She's been taking lessons from a great teacher." Kate said mysteriously.

"Oh? Whom?" Andre peered curiously at Charlotte, who shifted uncomfortably.

"I don't know his name, Monsieur."

"Let her sing for you, Monsieur. She has been well taught."

"From the beginning of the aria, then please, mam'selle." Viktor said gently.

"Andre, this is doing nothing for my nerves." Andre muttered.

"Think of me, think of me fondly, when we've said goodbye. Remember me once in a while - please promise me you'll try. When you find that, once again, you long to take your heart back and be free - if you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me." The curtain closed, all the stage crew, costume, and makeup teams filed into the seats of the set in opera attire. Chanel and her No. 1 assistant, Giulietta hurried over to Charlotte. In two swift motions, Chanel switched Charlotte into the white Think of Me dress without any perverted cast members seeing. Giulietta pulled Charlotte's blonde hair out of its messy bun and placed a sparkly crown of star-shaped Swarowski crystals on her loose locks. They made it off just as the curtain reopened and Charlotte sang again.

"We never said our love was evergreen, or as unchanging as the sea - but if you can still remember, stop and think of me . . . Think of all the things we've shared and seen - don't think about the things which might have been . . . Think of me, think of me waking, silent and

resigned. Imagine me, trying too hard to put you from my mind. Recall those days, look back on all those times, think of the things we'll never do - there will never be a day, when I won't think

of you!"

Everyone cheered, as if it really were the first time they'd heard Charlotte sing. She smiled at Box Five before turning to 'notice' Edward.

"Can it be? Can it be Christine?" Edward sang delightedly, standing up. "Bravo! What a change! You're really not a bit the gawkish girl that once you were… She may not remember me, but I remember her…"

Charlotte sang, overlapping. " We never said our love was evergreen, or as unchanging as the sea - but please promise me, that sometimes you will think of me!"

The lights went out as the rest of the cast applauded. Charlotte hurried off to the dressing room behind the scrim as Erik's voice filled the theatre. "Bravi, bravi, bravissimi." Maggie opened the door, dressed in a ballet outfit that looked a lot like the one on that Degas sculpture, the Little Dancer. Her hair was even braided, just like the statue.

"Christine… Christine…" She called softly.

"Christine…" Erik repeated. Maggie pulled Charlotte out from behind the changing screen, where she'd switched to a lacy white dressing gown.

"Where in the world have you been hiding? Really, you were perfect! I only wish I knew your secret! Who is this new tutor?"

Charlotte sank into the chair in front of the vanity. "Father once spoke of an angel . . . I used to dream he'd appear . . . Now as I sing, I can sense him . . . And I know he's here . . ." She leaned forward, as if telling Maggie a secret. "Here in this room, he calls me softly . . . somewhere inside . . . hiding . . . Somehow I know he's always with me . . . he - the unseen genius . . ."

Maggie gripped Charlotte' s hand with concern, the same concern she'd shown when Charlotte had returned from her first visit to the lair. "Christine, you must have been dreaming . . . stories like this can't come true . . . Christine, you're talking in riddles . . . and it's not like you . . ."

The run continued into Little Lotte. Charlotte was thoroughly amazed by how much Kate fussed over Maggie as if she really were her sister's mother.

******

Erik felt like barfing. Charlotte was doing a very convincing job playing Christine. Too convincing. Was this how she'd acted around Edward when they were a couple? If so, then he was surprised any of their friends could have managed to stand being around them. It was absolutely revolting.

"Raoul, no!" Oh, damn. He'd been thinking through the entire scene. It was almost time for his entrance. From the lighting board, Giullieta switched off all the flickering electric candles and the drums made the final cue.

"Insolent boy! This slave of fashion basking in your glory! Ignorant fool! This brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph!" Charlotte responded to his song and he could see the entire cast and crew were spellbound by their voices. Erik began the hypnotic, lulling part of the song. " I am your angel. Come to me, Angel of Music."

Edward, like the pain in the butt he was, ruined the moment with his overly dramatic line. "Whose is that voice? Who is that in there?"

" I am your Angel of Music. Come to me, Angel of Music." Charlotte stepped through the mirror passageway Chanel had created, as a large circular platform rose up.

"Christine! Angel!" He was too late. The organ started and Erik began to lead Charlotte down the spiral staircase on the platform as Charlotte began to sing.

"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came . . . that voice which calls to me and speaks my name . . . And do I dream again? For now I find the Phantom of the Opera is there - inside my mind . . ." She smiled at him, as if he were a relative she hadn't seen in years, and had missed terribly. He smiled back and took over.

"Sing once again with me... our strange duet . . . My power over you grows stronger yet . . . And though you turn from me, to glance behind, the Phantom of the Opera is there - inside your mind . . ." He helped her into the boat, which had been pushed on by one of the stagehands. He lifted up the pole and began pushing the boat as Charlotte resumed.

"Those who have seen your face draw back in fear . . . I am the mask you wear . . ."

"It's me they hear…"

They sang together and their chemistry was tangible. "Your/my spirit and your/my voice, in one combined: the Phantom of the Opera is there inside your/my mind . . ."

The dancers whirled past them, draped with their Prologue coverings. "He's there, the Phantom of the Opera . . . Beware the Phantom of the Opera . . ." As Maggie danced towards them, she grabbed Charlotte's wrist and Charlotte gave an audible gasp.

He sang alone, filling every nook and cranny of the theatre with sound. "In all your fantasies, you always knew that man and mystery . . ."

"Were both in you…"

"And in this labyrinth, where night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera is there/here inside your/my mind." The dancers had returned, wheeling on the set of the lair. It looked almost identical to Erik's, except that there was a large red velvet throne in the center.

"Sing, my Angel of Music!" Erik said, both ordering and pleading.

"He's there, the Phantom of the Opera…" Charlotte began to vocalize and for the first time ever, she did it perfectly. He lifted her out of the boat and placed her on the throne. A little idea of his own. "I have brought you to the seat of sweet music's throne . . . to this kingdom where all must pay homage to music . . . music . . . You have come here, for one purpose, and one alone . . . Since the moment I first heard you sing, I have needed you with me, to serve me, to sing, for my music . . . my music . . ."

As he began Music of the Night, he thought back to the first time he'd ever sung this song to her. It was more interesting when she was awake, like when he turned her face towards him so that they were an inch from kissing on 'turn your face away' and gently letting it go on 'turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light.' He knew, for a fact, that _her_ favorite part of the number was the ballet lift Beth had added at 'let your spirit start to soar.' It reminded her of _Swan_ _Lake_. When they finished up, he kissed her forehead, the one spot Marie allowed him to kiss in the first act. He might have threatened her, but he liked his 'aunt' too much for that.

He sat down at the organ and started playing _Don Juan_, thinking about just how **stupid** the overall opera had been. The descant for Carlotta had been absolutely unnecessary. Gak, his ears hurt just thinking of those high notes. On a scale of one through ten, Carlotta's ego was infinity. Finally, he could stop and the RC music box started.

******

Groggily, Charlotte rose from the bed and touched the button that stopped the music box. Erik's voice had lulled her so much, she was drowsy. Pulling aside the canopy, she began to sing. "I remember there was mist . . . swirling mist upon a vast, glassy lake . . . There were candles all around and on the lake there was a boat, and in the boat, there was a man . . ." On the word 'man,' Erik turned and gave her a sad, small smile. Coyly, she crossed towards him. "Who was that shape in the shadows? Whose is the face in the mask?" She placed her hand on his left cheek, tracing the contours of his face. Just as the music reached its climax, she flicked off the mask and he struck her, yes, struck her, roughly to the ground.

"Damn you!" He yelled. "You little prying Pandora! You little demon - is this what you wanted to see?" He jerked her face up towards his own, then dropped it in a fury. His eyes had solidified. He really was mad, but about what? "Curse you! You little lying Delilah! You little viper! Now you cannot ever be free! Damn you . . . Curse you . . ." Charlotte could feel her upper lip trembling, like it always did when she was afraid or really upset. She watched him, fearfully entranced in his song. As he whispered the final 'Oh, Christine' and sank to the floor, next to her, she saw that his eyes had returned to normal. She'd never realized that he could be that good an actor. She handed him the mask, remembering to make her hands tremble. He pressed it back on his face and she averted her gaze as he rose and held out his hand. "Come we must return - those two fools who run my theatre will be missing you." They hurried offstage, leaving the way clear for Marty and 'Magical Lasso.'

If Joey had a good Cockney accent, Marty's was excellent. Charlotte thought he'd be great to play Alfred P. Doolittle in _My Fair Lady_.

_**PAUSE**_

_**Note: When Marty talks/sings, I'm trying to put the Cockney accent into writing. Don't judge me poorly because of it. It's really hard, even for an Eliza-wannabe like me.**_

_**RESUME**_

"Loike yellahw parchmint is 'is skin. A groit black 'ole serves as the noyse that nevvar grew." Louisa and several other dancers let out 'oohs' and clapped. "You mus' be all-waiys on yohr gard, or 'e will catch'oo wi' 'is magical lah-sao."

Charlotte dropped through the trap door of the upper level behind the scrim. Maggie gasped and Louisa shrieked. Kate broke through the ranks of dancers and gently helped Charlotte up. "Those who speak of what they know find, too late, that prudent silence is wise. Maggie gently led her friend off, as Kate slapped her new boyfriend's cheek. "Joseph Buquet, hold your tongue!" She threw the lasso around his neck. "He will burn you with the heat of his eyes."

******

While 'Notes' was in process, Erik and Charlotte were hanging out in her dressing room Charlotte's clothes were still on, ready for _Il Muto_, but Erik had indulgently taken off his shirt. Their lips were practically fusing with the intensity of the kissing.

"Erik?" Marie called through the walkie-talkie at his hip. "I know you two are quote, 'busy,' end quote, but you only have two minutes before your Notes entrance. So, stop what you're doing and get over here! Charlotte, that goes for you, too."

Charlotte reluctantly broke away. "We should go."

"Aw, but we're having so much fun."

"It won't be fun for you if Marie fires you. Then I'd have Edward to keep me company."

"You even think about it, and I'll kill you both."

"But you promised!"

"I was kidding. Jeez, you're gullible."

"One minute!" Marie hissed.

"We're coming!" They chorused.

*******

A/N: Well, what did you think? Review and tell me. I've thought of adding director to my list of possible careers. Tell me about the prologue, the throne, Music of the Night, etc. Bottom line, I want comments, ASAP, please.


	11. Don't Make Me Choose!

Me: Lila, before you make yet another attempt on my life, will you let me update this? Please?

Lila: Yeah, sure, whatever. Just so long as I get to use the Punjab lasso on you, Christine.

Me: I think I'm going to resign from that role.

Lila: You can't. It's in the contract.

Me: What?

Lila: Read it and weep, Lottie.

Me: 'I, Cailie di Mekio, do solemnly agree to portray the role of Christine Daae for as long as Lila Caffee is obsessed with Phantom of the Opera. Yadda, yadda, yadda... I will allow the FanFiction author of the second party to Punjab me to a number not exceeding seven million times per day ... when the hell did I sign this?

Lila: You didn't. I took your signature off a piece of your notebook paper when you were doodling. You never even noticed!

Me: !

*******

"What new surprises lie in store?" The doors swung open and Charlotte stumbled into the lobby set clutching at both the flowers and the shawl that were hiding her Serafimo costume.

"Miss Daae!" The stage hands were calling out to her. At one point, she thought she heard one shout, "Marry me!" She giggled, wondering if whoever it was had been serious, blew them all a few kisses, then turned to look at Isabella, the twins, Maggie, Kate, and Edward all staring at her. The venom in Isabella's obsidian-black eyes was lethal. Tomas stepped forward, acting as a shield.

"Your public needs you." His normally stoic voice became oily, sweet and smooth.

"We need you, too." Andre said, hurriedly.

"Would you not rather have your precious little ingenue?" Isabella roughly grabbed Charlotte's wrist and thrust her straight at Edward.

"Signora, no! The world wants you." The twins chorused. As the intro to Prima Donna started, Charlotte gave Edward a disappointed, unhappy look and hurried off in the opposite direction.

***Poor Fool***

The three chorus singers finished their bit and the curtains parted. Imitating Emmy Rossum to a tee, Charlotte popped up from 'petting' Isabella's abdomen with an exaggerated look of shock. Edward gave a soft snort from Box Five, like ... she needed to stop watching/reading _Twilight_. She was thinking of that scene where Bella admitted her fear of needles. Luckily, she giggled right when Sandro entered, and slapped Maggie heartily on the rear end. Maggie let out a genuine shriek of embarrassment and everyone snickered. Charlotte turned her back to the ongoing exchange and began dusting like a maniac, stopping only when Sandro gripped her own buttocks, at which point, she'd have slapped him in real life. As it was, she could only look scandalized.

"Though I would happily take the maid with me." Sandro announced, cheekily.

"The old fool is leaving." Isabella simpered sweetly. As they went into the annoyingly high 'Addio' parts, Charlotte added a bounce to her body, like everyone else was doing. When Sandro exited, she turned back to the audience as Isabella began one of the best parts of the show.

"Serafimo, away with this pretense!" Charlotte tore off the skirt and lacy cap she'd been wearing. "You cannot a-speak, but kiss me in my husband's absence!" The girls ducked behind the fan and made similar 'why-the-hell-did-we-agree-to-be-exploited-like-this' faces. Everyone laughed as their heads reemerged. Charlotte started prancing around the stage like an absolute idiot while Isabella and the others sang. For good measure, she threw in a little 'flirtation' with Maggie. _Jeez, I feel like Maureen, she_ thought. _Exactly how many more girls will I have to flirt with?_

As if to answer her question, Erik spoke, his voice echoing through the theater. "Did I not instruct that Box Five was to be kept empty?"

Everyone gasped, Maggie and Charlotte the loudest of all. "He's here," Maggie murmured fearfully. "The Phantom of the Opera."

"It's him. I know it! It's him!" Charlotte whispered, just loud enough for the flesh-colored microphone on her right cheek to pick up the sound.

"Your part is silent, little toad!" Isabella hissed, slapping Charlotte with her fan. It hurt more than she'd have expected.

"A toad, madam? Perhaps, it is you who are the toad!" Charlotte exchanged a worried look with Maggie as if they were the only ones who'd heard Erik. Isabella resumed, and Charlotte had to bite the inside of her cheek when the croaks started. If she hadn't, she would be rolling on the floor, unable to stop giggling. The chandelier shook and Isabella ran off sobbing. The curtain closed and the twins stumbled in front.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the performance will continue in ten minutes' time when the role of the Countess will be sung by Miss Christine Daae." Andre sputtered. He pulled Charlotte out and everyone cheered.

Tomas put on a similar air. "In the meantime, ladies and gentlemen, we shall be giving you the ballet from Act Three of tonight's opera." The curtain reopened and the other dancers started while Kate led Charlotte up to the dressing room, where she switched to the simple Countess outfit. The music began to intensify and the Marty look-alike dummy Chanel had created dropped from a Punjab lasso. Maggie let out one of her famous drum-buster shrieks and Charlotte's replying wail was almost as loud.

"Raoul? Raoul!" She tore out of the dressing room where Edward caught her in his arms.

"Christine, come with me . . ." He began to pull her towards the exit.

"No . . . to the roof. We'll be safe there!" The curtain closed long enough for Andre to deliver his line about it being simply an accident and the crew to roll on the set of the roof/cemetery. The platform rose up as Charlotte began leading Edward up the staircase.

"Why have you brought us here?" he demanded.

"Don't take me back there!" she insisted.

"We must return!" he argued.

"He'll kill me!" Erik kill her? That was absolutely ridiculous. The call-and-response seemed to drag on, Charlotte making fearful declarations and Edward gently contradicting them. They sang the last line together, and she was amazed she could do it. After all the running she'd done, she was thoroughly breathless.

"And in this labyrinth, where night is blind, the Phantom of the Opera is here: inside your/my mind . . ." By this time, the platform had reached its highest point and sank back down. She dashed off and sank onto the pedestal of one of the winged horse statues.

"There is no Phantom of the Opera..." Edward said stubbornly, his green eyes boring into hers. She wanted to break eye contact, but the undeniable _kindness_ in those eyes held her gaze.

Raoul, I've been there ... to his world of unending night ... to a world where the daylight dissolves into darkness ... darkness ... Raoul, I've seen him ... Can I ever forget that sight? Can I ever escape from that face? So distorted, deformed ... It was hardly a face, in that darkness ... darkness ... " _Oh, Erik, forgive me for these words. I don't mean any of them. You're the best part of my life. Hearing your voice fills my soul with happiness, seeing you brings the sun to a hurricane. Please forgive me._ "But his voice filled my spirit with a strange, sweet sound ... In that night, there was music in my mind ... And through music, my soul began to soar ... And I heard as I've never heard before!"

"What you heard was a dream, and nothing more!" Edward murmured, trying to take her in his arms. She shook her head and looked away.

" Yet in his eyes, all the sadness of the world ... those pleading eyes that both threatened ... and adored ..." she decrescendoed to a whisper. Edward stroked her cheek gently, crooning the name Christine. It reminded her so much of their past relationship that she was thankful for Erik's ghostly echo. "What was that?" she whispered.

Edward gently took her hand, pulled her up, as All I Ask Of You began, and cupped her chin in his hands. "No more talk of darkness. Forget these wide-eyed fears. I'm here, nothing can harm you - my words will warm and calm you. Let me be your freedom, let daylight dry your tears. I'm here, with you, beside you, to guard you and to guide you . . ."

She looked up into his eyes and sang back sweetly. "Say you love me every waking moment. Turn my head with talk of summertime . . . Say you need me with you, now and always . . . promise me that all you say is true - that's all I ask of you . . ."

He wrapped his arms around her like a cocoon. "Let me be your shelter, let me be your light. You're safe: No-one will find you. Your fears are far behind you . . ."

"All I want is freedom. A world with no more night . . . and you, always beside me, to hold me..." She broke away playfully and ducked behind him. "And to hide me . . ." It went on until the duet reached its climax, and Charlotte's least favorite part came. He kissed her fully and she kissed him back. His lips were warm and familiar, but foreign. It seemed utterly criminal to kiss Edward, now that she knew what it felt like to kiss someone that she truly loved.

******

Erik could feel bile welling up in his mouth and tears in his eyes. Charlotte would probably have said his eyes had solidified. Still, it was immensely sickening to watch her with Edward. He was glad to see them exit as he emerged from behind the statue of La Victoire Ailee. "I gave you my music . . .made your song take wing . . .and now, how you've repaid me: denied me, and betrayed me . . . He was bound to love you when he heard you sing . . ." He crushed the perfect red rose between his fingers. "Christine... Christine..."

******

He was riveting. Charlotte couldn't think of another word to describe Erik's performance. The tears in his eyes matched her own as she sang the reprise with Edward. "Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime . . . say the word and I will follow you . . . Share each day with me, each night, each morning . . ." The platform rose up again as the opera set and the chandelier returned to the stage.

"You will curse the day you did not do all that the Phantom asked of you . . .!" Charlotte reentered and Erik's song changed to maniacal laughter. "GO!" he bellowed. The shatterproof Plexiglas chandelier dropped down inches from Charlotte. It startled her so much that she fell back on the floor. One of the pieces bounced back up and whizzed past her cheek. The curtain closed and she headed to the dressing room.

"Lottie!" Edward grabbed her wrist. "Is it true?"

"What?"

"You're engaged to that ... that...that _thing_?!? Are you insane?!?"

"_DON'T YOU DARE CALL HIM A THING_!" she hissed. "He's the most wonderful person in the world. He's given me everything!"

"He can't give you this!" Before she could duck away, he pressed his lips against hers forcefully. She tried to wriggle free, but he only held on tighter.

"Edward, stop!" she broke away. "Don't do this! Don't toy with me like this! Because if you do, I won't be able to leave you, when I know I have to. And I can't hurt you any more than I can betray Erik. So, don't do this!" She ran off in tears.

"What did you do?" Erik demanded.

"What did _I_ do? I could ask you the same thing! It's because of you that she's so torn!"

"You're the one who upset her! Now shut up and don't let me catch you near her unless it's _absolutely_ necessary. Do you understand?" He brushed past his enemy and hurried after Charlotte. She had curled into the fetal position in the dressing room and saline was staining the carpet. "I'm going to have to pay for that rug to be replaced, you know. Did he hurt you?"

"No. No, I'm fine, just confused." She pushed herself up. "It's just that everything seems so complicated lately."

"Well, I was going to take you downstairs and let you be the first to use the new Edward dartboard, but I guess I'm going to have to go to plan B. Sorry about this."

"About what?" He jerked a blindfold over her eyes and scooped her up in his arms. "Hey!"

"Can't let you know where we're going." Erik teased. They walked for several minutes and then he set her down on a velvety surface. "Okay, take the blindfold off."

"Oh!" Words completely failed her. They were on the roof. A picnic had been spread out on one of the velvet blankets from the lair, but that wasn't what held her attention. Erik had strategically lit cinnamon-scented votives all over the statuary, giving the effect of flickering stars. It was only two o'clock in the afternoon, but thanks to winter, the sun was starting to set making the late afternoon all the more magical.

"You like it?"

"It's ... amazing. Incredible. Indescribable."

"Here," he handed her a muffin. "They're lemon poppyseed with cocoa powder mixed in. Just how you like it. I'm not so lazy that I go to the Au Bon Pain."

"Don't tease me like that. It's mean." She pouted.

"But you look so cute when I upset you." He grinned devilishly. "However, I didn't bring up here to annoy you."

"Then why have you brought me here?" She joked.

He slipped a small red jewelery box out of his pocket and knelt down on one knee. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I understand if you want to wait to make it official, but I still want to establish my claim to you. Will ... will you marry me, Charlotte?"

He opened the box and she let out another gasp of amazement. "Oh!" The ring nestled in the box was attractively noticeable, not at all like the huge heart-shaped pink diamond Edward had bought. The silver band was delicately crafted and a dime-sized diamond in the center was surrounded by tiny beads of diamonds. "Of course I will. There's nothing I'd love more than to make music with you for the rest of our lives." And she kissed him as she never had before. It was intensely passionate and incredibly loving. To Charlotte, this was the beginning of a new life where only Erik had a claim to her.

******

Lila: Eh. That sucked.

Me: You loved it, and you know it

Lila: Yeah, well, just get that chapter we disscussed up ASAP. Or else. _(Twirls the Punjab)_

Me: Maggie's signature drum-buster. ! Heeeee-eeeeeeeeeeelp!


	12. As Long As You're Mine

Me: This is going to be a huge chapter, with all of Act Two, three scenes/songs I added, thanks to Lila's loan of Messr. LeRoux's novel. Unfortunately for her, I've decided to cut my 'fail lemon,' because I'm a newb and I need more experience. And furthermore, the little three-ways between Christine, Raoul, and the Phantom are just annoying, so I just skipped over them.

Lila: You're really beating yourself up about the fact that you failed and you know it.

Me: Liar.

Lila: I'm not lying about that, but you only just noticed? (Whips out the Punjab)

Me: You promised me you'd stop bringing that into the recording studio!

Lila: Ah, but you should know I never keep my oaths. Oaths are made…

Both of us: To catch gulls with.

Me: You say that way too often. Oh, and let's remind ourselves that you're the one who got me messed up on Erik's last name. From now on, I'll be spelling Muhlheim properly.

Lila: It's true that I messed up, but it was only one h! Give it a rest, little Miss Perfectionist! Now, get the stinking chapter and fail Stephenie-Meyer-style lemon on before I decide to use this from sheer boredom.

Me: You're going to use it anyway. And I'm sorry about the whole LND thing. Just a warning to those of you interested in Love Never Dies, do NOT look on Wikipedia. MEGA MEGA spoiler! I mean it! Do not look!

Lila: Yeah, you're right. And thank you for reminding me to do this as revenge for that 'mega mega spoiler.' (By now, you should know how Lila's and my little exchanges always end)

******

Charlotte was tempted to make a hangman's noose out of the magnetic clasped gold chain that held her 'secret engagement ring' in place around her throat. She was getting antsy, because any kind of engagement to Edward made her feel like vomiting up her lemon poppy seed muffin and baguette all over his black and gold cavalier outfit. Sure, he looked dashing, but he was staring at her with the intensity of an art dealer buying a painting and then realizing it was a priceless da Vinci. It was entirely uncalled for and sickening.

At least, this time, she could understand why he was staring and why people called her the greatest beauty of the de Chagny family since Christine. The front half of her dark blond hair had been intricately braided, reminding her of the hems on Celtic ceremonial dresses. The braids had been tied together with a silky white ribbon and a pink rosette hairpin, while the lower half streamed down her back like a shimmering burnished gold waterfall. Her sculpted, heart-shaped face was lightly accented with sparkling pink blush, eye shadow, and lip gloss. The pink satin bodice of her ball gown hugged her slim frame, finishing in a point at the waistline edge in snowflake-esque lace that was also on her neckline, hem, and gloves. And, true to Christine's 'innocent' costumes, the dress flashed a whole lot of her cleavage.

The only one showing more flesh than Charlotte was Maggie, in an adorable white angel dress. And, of course, there was Isabella, who was only happy when her costumes were extravagant and skimpy. They'd jokingly asked Chanel what angel would be so immodest, and that had resulted in whacks on the head with failed sword handles before Emiko had protested that it would ruin their hairstyles.

"Lottie?" Kate called.

"Yeah?"

"Emiko sent me. She wants you to touch up your eyeliner."

"Can you do it? I suck at my eye makeup." Charlotte spun around to face her friend, secretly reveling in the swish of her floor length skirt.

"Sure. BTW, Edward, can you see if you can track down Maggie? She's gone missing and Grandmama is ready to bust a coronary."

"Right." Edward muttered, turning on his heel to find the little angel. Kate gently gripped Charlotte's chin and applied a line of Black Velvet eye pencil.

"Great. Now all you need is your mask." Kate announced as Charlotte fastened the little pink rose covered piece of cloth over her eyes and nose. "You look amazing. Now, where is my sister?"

******

"It doesn't seem like your plans are having much success." The masked young woman whispered in the privacy of one of the dressing rooms.

"They will work." The masked man hissed. "Just wait."

"I'm not certain I want to. This isn't working for me."

"For you?"

"For any of us, really. No one benefited from the murder of Joey Wosten. It seems like you're the only one who has something to gain. I feel like you're using me."

"I'm not using you. Something good will come of this. I promise." He kissed her softly. "Now, get to your place before they notice more than is good for them."

******

"Think of it!" Charlotte sang angelically as the other principals finished their Masquerade segment. "A secret engagement! Look - your future bride! Just think of it!" Edward gently stroked her cheek.

"But why is it secret? What have we to hide?" She struggled playfully as he tried to kiss her again.

"Please, let's not fight . . . Wait till the time is right . . ." She barely heard him chiding her while they sang together. Her head was still reeling from everything that had happened on the roof. How fitting that what had begun for Christine and Raoul had been in the exact same place. A perfect end to the drama and the pain that had followed Erik's and her families for years.

"Christine, what are you afraid of?" Edward 'whispered.' She shook her head with a smile.

"Let's not argue… please pretend… you will understand in time…" She led him out to the dancing area and one of her favorite parts began. They danced for about thirty seconds. Edward ran his thumb over her left hand as they switched partners and Charlotte let out an internal gasp as the first boy began the intense spinning part of the dance. The ring! Edward knew! What would he do to her? To Erik? These thoughts gave her a perfect, worried look as she was almost pushed around the stage by almost the entire male ensemble. Edward's arms embraced her just as the music reached its climax.

"Masquerade! Paper faces on parade! Masquerade! Hide your face, so the world will never find you! Masquerade! Every face a different shade! Masquerade! Look around - There's another mask behind you!" Everyone sang in full voice as the dancers performed the special part Beth had blocked to resemble Joel Schumacher's Masquerade finale. "Masquerade! Burning glances, turning heads . . . Masquerade! Stop and stare at the sea of smiles around you! Masquerade! Grinning yellows, spinning reds . . . Masquerade! Take your fill - let the spectacle astound you!" The pit switched to the Phantom's entrance. Erik appeared at the top of the staircase in the exact same costume the Phantom had worn, complete with the skull mask and blood red velvet cape.

Charlotte's first thought was He's too amazing for me. "Raoul, go." She whispered.

"What?" Edward murmured back.

"He can't know about us. Please, go." Edward nodded, and exited. Charlotte hurried over next to Maggie and Kate just as Erik began to sing.

He winked at her as he sang, "Why so silent, good messieurs? Did you think that I had left you for good? Have you missed me, good messieurs? I have written you an opera! Here I bring the finished score 'Don Juan Triumphant!" With a smirk, he tossed a black folder embossed with a gothic gold OG to Tomas, who passed it to Andre as if it were a live grenade. "I advise you to comply - my instructions should be clear - Remember, there are worse things than a shattered chandelier . . ."

His eyes turned towards Charlotte and she could feel them burning into her, making a path straight to her heart. Her own eyes, a mix of blue, green, and grey, rose up and connected with his. He was pulling her towards him without touching her, and they met with her only three steps below him. His gaze traveled down to her necklace, he seized the ring, and yanked. "Your chains are still mine — you will sing for me!" He thrust down his hand, dropping some kind of small pellet that he crushed under his black leather boot.

The result was a cloud of red smoke exploding around him as the platform dropped down rapidly and he ducked off. Charlotte got her first whiff of Phantom Powder and understood exactly what made it so dangerous. Though the powder wasn't lit, it was a sweet and spicy musk, its scent was a combination of Drakkar Noir and Dior Homme. It overloaded her sinuses with such intensity that she reeled back and collapsed in Edward's arms.

The curtain closed and Charlotte rushed off to switch costumes while Edward and Kate did their scene. She wanted to watch the scene Erik and Marie had added after reading Gaston LeRoux's novel, so she switched to her black mourning gown and buttoned up a white blouse over the top in record speed. The last thing to go was the ring.

But where to hide it? Christine had had the right idea, but the wrong location. As Emiko replaced her white ribbon with a black one, Charlotte twirled the silver bracelet studded with seven cameos around her wrist. It was an heirloom, a gift from Raoul to Christine, with each cameo opening to fit a portrait the size of a quarter.

Of course! When she'd gotten the bracelet from Mamon, there'd been two permanent pictures, Christine and Raoul, but she'd removed the ones of Gustave Daae, Gustave de Chagny, Meg, Madame Giry, and the white half-mask. Four of the slots now held her parents, Mamon, and Erik. There was still one empty space that could fit the ring! She quickly slipped it off and hid it in the cameo.

"Don't want him to know you're having second thoughts?" Edward drawled, as he entered.

"Hardly. I just thought it's best that some things be left unsaid. Now get out of my hair." She sauntered out just in time for Erik's entrance.

PAUSE

I'm just going to paste the script as I edited it.

RESUME

"Genius has turned to madness, Madame?"

"Erik … you must stop this! Promise me you will leave that poor girl alone!"

"Promise? Ah, Madame, you should know I never keep my oaths. Oaths are made to catch gulls with."

"She does not want you to continue. She will not come back!"

"Oh, but she will. Christine Daae will return to me by her own free will, and, so help me, when she does, I will have her and I will marry her. I've even begun the wedding mass. Ah, if you could hear the Kyrie. Kyrie, kyrie, kyrie eleison! Magnificent!"

"Le viscomte was right! You are mad! Erik, listen to reason! Do it for me! I saved your life! You owe me a debt!"

"How much you sound like Daroga. My life is my own! I still cannot believe I dedicated my requiem mass to that fool, that great booby!"

"Please …"

"No, Madame! This war is not over yet! And if you believe so strongly in oaths, remember your own. Do not aid le viscomte. Do not seek to become involved in this battle. Do not attempt to stop me, and stay away from my home. Your life could easily become caught in the spider's web.

"As if the chandelier were not enough! You did cause that."

"I? Oh no, Madame. The chandelier was merely old, and worn. I had nothing to do with it."

"Now I know where Christine's enigmatic half-answers are coming from."

"Like maestro, like student, I suppose. Madame, one last thing." He tossed a letter onto the little desk, sealed with the red skull. "Deliver that to those imbeciles who call themselves my managers, would you? Au revoir." He vanished and Kate sank deeper into her chair.

"Oh, God, what madness have we all succumbed to?" She whispered, her voice quivering.

******

"Ah! 'Ere's our leetle flower!" Isabella spat coldly as Edward and Charlotte entered the 'manager's office.'

"Ah Miss Daae, quite the lady of the hour!" Andre bowed sarcastically.

"You have secured the largest role in this 'Don Juan'." Tomas sneered at the Phantom's masterpiece, jabbing it with a finger.

"Christine Daae? She doesn't have the voice!" Isabella scoffed.

"Signora, please!" Andre said, trying hard to stay calm and diplomatic.

"Then I take it you're agreeing." Edward said coolly.

"She's be'ind thees . . ."

"It appears we have no choice." Tomas sighed.

"She's the one be'ind thees! Christine Daae!" Isabella snarled, jabbing a finger at Charlotte, which was all it took to cause Charlotte's stress to explode into her singing.

"How dare you!"

"I'm not a fool!

"You evil woman! How dare you!"

"You think I'm blind?"

"This isn't my fault! I don't want any part in this plot!" Charlotte tried her best to keep her frayed nerves under control, as the others tried to convince her. "I cannot sing it duty or not!" She repeated stubbornly.

"Christine, Christine, you don't have to. They can't make you." Edward said soothingly.

Kate and Maggie hurried in and passed off the latest message with trembling hands. "Please, Monsieur, another note." The entire group let out a collective 'ugh' as Kate began to read. "Fondest greetings to you all! A few instructions just before rehearsal starts: Carlotta must be taught to act . . . ,"

Erik took over, making the contempt and ridicule in his voice exaggerated. ". . . not her normal trick of strutting round the stage. Our Don Juan must lose some weight - it's not healthy in a man of Piangi's age." Sandro flushed bright red. "And my managers must learn that their place is in an office, not the arts." The special focused in on Charlotte as Erik reverted to speech for a moment.

"As for our star, Miss Christine Daae," She saw him faintly smirking from the edge of the stage. "No doubt she'll do her best - it's true her voice is good. She knows, though, should she wish to excel, she has much still to learn, if pride will let her return to me, her teacher, her teacher . . . Your obedient friend . . ." He winked at her as Kate finished.

"… And Angel."

Charlotte dropped her head into her hands and remained in that position as Edward did the 'we have all been blind' part and everyone else started arguing. How had Christine managed to stay even remotely sane in this calamity? "Please, don't ... " She tried to be heard, but everyone else was plotting or blaming her, or protesting. So, she stood up and screamed. "If you don't stop, I'll go mad!!!" Everyone stared as she collapsed into a red and gold chair, gripping Edward's hand tightly. "Raoul, I'm frightened - don't make me do this ... Raoul, it scares me -don't put me through this ordeal by fire. He'll take me, I know ...We'll be parted for ever, he won't let me go. What I once used to dream I now dread...if he finds me, it won't ever end ... And he'll always be there, singing songs in my head ... He'll always be there, singing songs in my head..."

"She's mad..." Isabella whispered. Edward knelt beside Charlotte and put his arms around her shoulders.

" You said yourself he was nothing but a man. Yet while he lives, he will haunt us till we're dead ..."

Charlotte shook her head looked away and stood, singing into the air, secretly asking her parents and Mamon what to do. She'd always seen them as her guardian angels. "Twisted every way, what answer can I give? Am I to risk my life,to win the chance to live? Can I betray the man who once inspired my voice? Do I become his prey? Do I have any choice? He kills without a thought, he murders all that's good, I know I can't refuse and yet, I wish I could. Oh God - if I agree, what horrors wait for me in this, the Phantom's opera ...?" She didn't even listen to Edward, but drifted to her spot for the next scene as if in a dream.

******

Erik was beginning to think this was the oddest, but most hilarious variation of Phantom of the Opera he'd ever experienced. Sandro, Charlotte, Isabella and the rest of the Opera cast were 'rehearsing' Don Juan and Sandro kept doing the "those who tangle with Don Juan" part correctly. Charlotte rolled her eyes as Sandro sang it and asked her, "Is it right?"

"No, not quite, Signor." She caught Erik's eye and winked, while keeping her face stressed. "Those who tan ... tan ... tan..." She sang the incorrect notes, as if she hoped Sandro would catch on to the error. He didn't, and Isabella shrieked so loudly, his eardrums were banging almost as much as the piano was. Charlotte ran towards the edge of the stage, where Robby was standing in one of his seemingly endless roles. He was an okay singer, but he was great at acting, so he was the auctioneer, Leferve, the coachman, the marksman and Passarino. At least, that's what Marie told everyone. The truth was that Marie Giry was just too cheap to hire that many different people.

"Monsieur?"

"Where to, mam'selle?"

"The cemetery. I'll return in a moment." She hurried off and entered the dressing room. She removed a cloak from the wardrobe and as she turned to go, the passage illuminated, revealing his figure. She began to walk towards him, almost in a trance, singing. "In sleep, he sang to me. In dreams, he came . . . that voice which calls to me and speaks my name . . ." He held out his hand, and she blinked, as if breaking the spell, and hurried off.

While this had been happening, the crew had rolled on the roof set, several tombstones, and a mausoleum labeled DAAE. Charlotte had removed her blouse, fastened the cloak around her shoulders, and reentered. Fog swirled around her ankles and the entire scene was just depressing, especially the look of longing and sorrow in her eyes.

******

Before we continue, reader, a word about Jean-Paul Phillipe de Chagny. Commonly known as Paul to his friends and family, he was a manager, producer, and composer for his wife and daughter, both of whom he doted on. Charlotte had adored him, in a different way from her love for Ella. Paul had watched her during Ella's shows, taught her to sing, made happy-face pancakes every Saturday morning. He'd written the 'Little Lotte Lullaby' and sung it to her every night. Paul was responsible for Charlotte's knowledge of their family saga, and had given his word to the tiny prima donna that he would make sure the Angel of Music found her one day. Charlotte still held him to that pledge.

******

"Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing . . . Her father promised her that he would send her the Angel of Music . . . Her father promised her . . . Her father promised her . . ." Charlotte wandered aimlessly around the stage, singing the heartfelt mourning song. Every now and then, Erik would expose just enough of his cape to make his presence known to more attentive audience members. Mostly, though, he was watching her. It was clear that her soul was pouring out through her voice, the loss of her parents still as fresh and raw as it had been on her fateful fifteenth birthday. "Too many years fighting back tears . . . Why can't the past just die? Wishing you were somehow here again . . . knowing we must say goodbye . . .Try to forgive . . . teach me to live . . . give me the strength to try . . . No more memories, no more silent tears . . . No more gazing across the wasted years . . . Help me say goodbye…" She collapsed in front of the mausoleum, waterfalls where her eyes should have been.

The more Erik thought about it, the less comforting 'Wandering Child' seemed. However, he would get thrown out if he didn't sing. He made a mental note to apologize to Charlotte after the show. He began to croon softly, "Wandering child . . . so lost . . . so helpless . . . yearning for my guidance . . ."

She looked up and her eyes were shining. "Angel . . . or father . . . friend . . . Or Phantom? Who is it there, staring?"

"Have you forgotten your Angel?"

"Angel . . . oh, speak . . . What endless longings echo in this whisper!"

"Too long you've wandered in winter . . . Far from my far-reaching gaze . . ." It seemed like only the two of them were singing a reprise of Angel of Music, and Edward was only a ghostly whisper.

"I am your Angel of Music . . . Come to me: Angel of Music . . ." Everything was going perfectly. Charlotte was walking towards him with a somewhat dreamy smile on her face.

Then, Edward ruined the moment completely. "Angel of darkness! Cease this torment!" Erik repeated the phrase as Edward tried to shake Charlotte out of dreamworld. "Christine! Christine listen to me! Whatever you may believe, this man . . . this thing . . . is not your father! Let her go! For God's sake, let her go! Christine!" A jolt seemed to run through her body when he grabbed her and she collapsed into his arms.

"Oh, Raoul!" At this point, Erik's blood was boiling. If not for the stupid family curse, he would be the one saving her. He would be the one she chose. He emerged from behind the mausoleum, his silver skull-handled sword flashing.

"Bravo, monsieur! Such spirited words!" He spat sarcastically.

Edward drew his own blade and the two began to spar, fluid swipes and quick feints leading them in a deadly dance around the stage. "More tricks, monsieur?"

"Let's see, monsieur, how far you dare go!"

"More deception? More violence?" Ha! As if he hadn't resorted the same tricks.

"Raoul, no…" Charlotte protested.

"That's right, that's right, monsieur! Keep walking this way!"

"You can't win her love by making her your prisoner."

"Raoul, don't!"

"Stay back!" Edward roared, and Erik took advantage of the chance to vault off a grave marker onto the roof of the crypt.

"I'm here, I'm here, monsieur: the angel of death! Come on, come on, monsieur! Don't stop, don't stop!" He laughed maniacally as Charlotte grabbed Edward's wrist.

"Raoul, come back!" They ran off and Erik watched her.

"Don't go!" He was ordering her and begging at the same time. When she didn't come, he understood his ancestor's rage. "So be it!" He bellowed. "Now let it be war upon you both!" The lighting exploded and the curtains shut.

******

Charlotte hadn't had this much fun since her parents' death, even with everything Edward been doing. She loved the taunting tone of Erik's voice in this scene, especially.

"No 'buts!' For once, Monsieur le Vicomte is right . . ." He sang calmly and casually from the wings and she adored the satisfied smirk on his face. "Seal my fate tonight - I hate to have to cut the fun short, but the joke's wearing thin . . . Let the audience in . . . Let my opera begin!"

"How am I doing?" He whispered in her ear and she jumped up a foot in the air.

"Don't do that! You're going to scare me to death!" She hissed.

"Sorry." He shrugged sweetly. "It's my thing."

"Well, to answer your question, you're absolutely amazing." She kissed his nose. "Now, go. You'll make me miss my entrance, and the recitative is almost over."

******

Sandro laughed in a way that was more like Santa Claus than malignant seducer and disappeared behind the tent. This was the moment Charlotte had craved all day: she and Erik at the point of no return.

"No thoughts within her head, but thoughts of joy! No dreams within her heart but dreams of love!" She removed the hood of her white velour cloak and sat down, stroking the velvety petals of the perfect red rose. She was barely paying attention when she heard Erik's voice, coming out whisper-soft and breathy.

" Passarino - go away, for the trap is set and waits for its prey!" She rapidly thought bite your cheek! If she didn't, she would succumb to giggles at the mischievous, mysterious half-smile that was surely on Erik's face. " You have come here in pursuit of your deepest urge, in pursuit of that wish, which till now has been silent," she opened her mouth on the rest, as if to scream, but he placed a finger to his lips and nodded at Edward's box. "Silent ... I have brought you, that our passions may fuse and merge - in your mind you've already succumbed to me, dropped all defenses, completely succumbed to me - now you are here with me: no second thoughts, you've decided," she rose as he nodded with satisfaction."Decided ..." The two of them began to move in a circle, keeping their eyes locked on each other. "Past the point of no return, no backward glances. Our games of make believe are at an end... Past all thought of "if" and "when," no use resisting... Abandon thoughts, and let the dream descend" they both let their arms flow in an X across their chests and Charlotte's fingers fluidly unfastened her cloak. Their hands found each other and fingers locked. Around the platform, a second circle of fabric flames flared up." What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlock its door? What sweet seduction lies before us?" She broke away, as if she were scared, and repositioned her dress straps."Past the point of no return, the final threshold ... What warm, unspoken secrets will we learn? Beyond the point of no return..."

She faced out and sang with her whole being. "You have brought me to that moment where words run dry... To that moment where speech disappears into silence, silence..." She gave Edward a meaningful glance. "I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why ... In my mind, I've already imagined our bodies entwining ... Defenseless and silent, and now I am here with you ... No second thoughts, I've decided," She dropped her shoulders and the dress straps slipped down again. "Decided..." she repeated as they began walking in a circle again. This time, however, the circle was getting smaller every time. "Past the point of no return, no going back now... Our passion play has now, at last, begun... Past all thought of right or wrong, one final question... How long should we two wait, before we're one? When will the blood begin to race, the sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames, at last, consume us?"

They were on the platform now, and another circle of flames rose as it began rising up in a spiral. Erik and Charlotte kept their backs to each other." Past the point of no return, the final threshold — the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn ... " She spun in front of him, and he wrapped one arm around her waist, placing the other on her chest, right above her heart. "We've passed the point of no return ..." His smooth, cool fingers brushed her loose hair away from her throat, and began moving gently along her shoulders and cheeks.

" Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime ... Lead me, save me from my solitude ... Say you want me with you, here beside you ..." He gently turned her towards him, placing a hand on her cheek. She reluctantly followed suit. " Anywhere you go let me go too - Christine, that's all I ask of ..." She ripped the black mask away, snapping the thin thread that held it in place. For one awful moment, he stared at her, with the look of a dog being denied its favorite toy. Then he seized her and the theater plunged into darkness as the platform dropped rapidly. Both Charlotte and Maggie screamed as the lights came on and Maggie revealed Sandro's 'dead' body.

During the calamity on stage, Chanel and Giulietta had been hiding underneath. They wrapped a set of ropes tightly around Charlotte's wrists and brushed her hair into disorder. Then, she and Erik ran up to the stage and got in the boat just as Kate said, "Hurry or we shall be too late."

"You trust me?" he whispered.

"Of course." They both hopped in the boat with Erik keeping an iron grip around her waist. She struggled futilely as he pushed the boat across the stage.

"Down once more to the dungeon of my black despair! Down we plunge to the prison of my mind! Down that path into darkness deep as hell!" He rounded on her, a bitter fire burning in his eyes. "Why, you ask, was I bound and chained in this cold and dismal place? Not for any mortal sin, but the wickedness of my abhorrent face!" He jerked her chin up roughly to look at his. As the chorus sang from above, they reached the lair and he pulled her out towards the mannequin. "Hounded out by everyone! Met with hatred everywhere! No kind word from anyone! No compassion anywhere!' He shook her shoulders violently. "Christine, Christine . . . Why, why?" The lights dimmed and Charlotte ducked behind the set for another speed change. She could hear Kate screaming. Hans must've planted a spider on the rubber rats. Kate had arachnophobia to the tenth power and everyone knew she carried a swatter and a blindfold, just in case she ever ran into one bigger than a golf ball.

******

Erik turned the prop ring over in his hands, lost in thought."Have you gorged yourself at last, in your lust for blood?" Charlotte's voice cut into his thoughts. He turned and almost automatically looked away again. A few minutes before, she'd been a frightened girl in an Aminta costume. Now, she was walking towards him like a queen, and easily the most beautiful creature he'd ever seen. The only thing keeping him from turning was the cold disgust in her eyes. " Am I now to be prey to your lust for flesh?" He tried to make the look in her eyes reflect back in his own.

"That fate, which condemns me to wallow in blood, has also denied me the joys of the flesh ..." He reached out to brush his fingers against her cheek. She shuddered, probably because he'd dipped his fingers in ice water while she'd been changing. He added that to his mental list of things to apologize for, as he lifted a piece of her hair. "This face, the infection which poisons our love..." She looked at him in disbelief as he turned towards the dummy and removed the veil from its head. "This face, which earned a mother's fear and loathing … A mask, my first unfeeling scrap of clothing … Pity comes too late …" He roughly set it down on her head turned her to face him."Turn around and face your fate! An eternity of this…" He jabbed a finger at his scars. "… Before your eyes!"

With fingers as delicate as his had been rough, she removed the veil from her hair and brushed away the curtain concealing one of the mirrors. "This haunted face holds no horror for me now . . . It's in your soul that the true distortion lies . . ." She sang softly and lowered herself onto the stool next to the organ as Edward's footsteps approached. Erik turned towards the grate with a smirk.

"Wait! I think, my dear, we have a guest!" He bowed in a way similar to Andre's bow in 'Notes.' "Sir, this is indeed an unparalleled delight! I had rather hoped that you would come. And now my wish comes true — you have truly made my night!"

Edward pushed his arms against the bar and sang melodramatically. "Free her! Do what you like only free her! Have you no pity?"

Erik rolled his eyes at Charlotte, dryly. "Your lover makes a passionate plea!"

"Please, Raoul, it's useless . . ." She choked out. But, like his normal self, Edward was an incredibly persistant Raoul.

"I love her! Does that mean nothing? I love her! Show some compassion . . ."

"The world showed no compassion to me!" Erik snarled, but Rao — Edward still refused to give up. What was happening? It was as if he had suddenly become his ancestor. He turned his focus back to his rival.

"Christine . . . Christine . . . Let me see her . . ."

"Be my guest, sir …" He raised his arm and the grate began to rise. Edward and Charlotte started walking towards each other, as he circled them like an eagle preparing for the kill. "Monsieur, I bid you welcome! Did you think that I would harm her? Why should I make her pay …" He leaned down and lifted the hidden lasso. "… For the sins which are yours?" He lunged and, guided by strings, the lasso found its way around Edward's neck and jerked him back. At the same time, Erik seized Charlotte around the waist, and pushed her towards one of the rocky ledges. All the rage he felt towards Edward let loose into his song. "Order your fine horses now! Raise up your hand to the level of your eyes! Nothing can save you now — except perhaps Christine . . ."

He turned to her, his voice a roar. "Start a new life with me - Buy his freedom with your love! Refuse me, and you send your lover to his death! This is the choice - This is the point of no return!"

Her eyes was shining … with tears? With pride? Eye drops? "The tears I might have shed for your dark fate grow cold, and turn to tears of hate . . ." Her voice cracked on the word _hate_, which only made her performance more believable.

******

_**PAUSE**_

_**Remember what I said earlier. We'll only be focusing on Christine's lines for this part.**_

_**RESUME**_

"Farewell my fallen idol and false friend . . . One by one I've watched illusions shattered . . ." She watched and listened to the boys' parts. How could she not have realized before? All this time, she, Erik and Edward had been hurtling towards the point that Christine, Raoul and the Phantom had come to so long ago, but with the boys' roles reversed. She was singing to both of them, not to just Erik, or just Edward. "Angel of Music . . . why this torment? When will you see reason?" As they faded out, she sang alone. "Angel of Music . . . you deceived me -

I gave my mind blindly . . ."

Erik looked at her coldly, keeping his hands on the rope. "You try my patience — make your choice!"

She bit her lip and began walking towards Erik. "Pitiful creature of darkness . . . What kind of life have you known? God give me courage to show you, you are not alone . . ." She kissed him fully, making it tender and forceful, generous and reserved. It was as if they were having their very first kiss, but they didn't know how to do it right. It lasted for a long time and as the music slowly faded away, Erik broke the kiss. The sounds of the entire cast seemed to be closing in on them with the refrain of 'Track Down This Murderer.' He raised his hand and the lasso rose up over Edward's neck and fell to the floor. Erik pushed Charlotte gently towards Edward.

"Take her — forget me — forget all of this . . . Leave me alone — forget all you've seen . . . Go now — don't let them find you! Take the boat — swear to me, never to tell the secret you know of the angel in hell! Go . . . Go now — go now and leave me!" He vanished into the bedroom. Gently, Charlotte placed a hand on Edward's arm and he exited. She followed Erik into the room and watched him take the music box in his hands with a faint smile on her lips. "Masquerade . . . Paper faces on parade . . ."

She joined in softly. "Masquerade . . . Hide your face so the world will never find you . . ." He looked up at her longingly.

"Christine, I love you . . ." She walked towards him and removed the ring from her finger. Taking his long tapering fingers into her own delicate ones, she place the ring in his palm and closed his fingers over it. Then she leaned down, kissed his devastated cheek, and exited back towards Edward.

"Say you'll share with me, one love, one lifetime . . . say the word and I will follow you… " She looked back towards the lair, really singing to Erik this time as Edward took over for a moment.

"Share each day with me . . ."

". . . each night . . ."

". . . each morning . . ." She heard Erik's voice fill the stage with every emotion imaginable coming out of the song.

"You alone can make my song take flight — it's over now, the music of the night . . ." She heard the mirrors smash, saw him vanish into the passageway as Maggie entered and lifted the mask in her baby hands. The curtain closed. At this point, most people would simply finish the show. Of course, Marie couldn't stand for anything traditional, so she'd written to Andrew Lloyd Webber and received permission to use 'No One Would Listen' and 'Learn To Be Lonely.'

The curtain reopened and Erik was sitting alone on the rocky ledge of the lair. Charlotte was sitting in the dressing room, cradling a perfect red rose in her hand as she heard him sing. "No one would listen … No one but her … Heard as the outcast hears … Shamed into solitude … Shunned by the multitude … I learned to listen … In my dark, my heart heard music … I longed to teach the world … Rise up and reach the world … No one would listen … I alone could feel the music … Then at last, a voice in the gloom … Seemed to cry…"

She sang with him. "I hear you … I hear your fears … Your torment and your tears …" He sang alone again.

"She saw my loneliness … Shared in my emptiness … No one would listen … No one but her … Heard as the outcast hears … No one would listen … No one but her … Heard as the outcast hears …"

The lights focused in on Charlotte and she sang softly. "Child of the wilderness, born into emptiness, learn to be lonely, learn to find your way in darkness. Who will be there for you? Comfort and care for you? Learn to be lonely, learn to be your one companion. Never dreamed out in the world, there are arms to hold you. You've always known your heart was on its own. So laugh in your loneliness, child of the wilderness, learn to be lonely, learn how to love life that is lived alone."

Downstage, Maggie emerged and held out her hand to Erik with a kind smile. "Learn to be lonely. Life can be lived, life can be loved alone." She whispered sweetly. Erik took her hand and the curtain closed.

******

"I'm sorry." Erik took Charlotte aside into the dressing room.

"Sorry? What for?"

"For any pain I might have caused you during rehearsal. Don't you dare say I didn't. I know I did, and I'm sorry for it. Can I make it up to you?"

A sneaky smile passed over her face and she dimpled. How had she done it so adorably? "Yes, you can, but first, take me home."

"Why would you want to go to your hostel?"

"No, I mean your home, silly boy!" She laced her fingers into his. "Well, how about it?"

"Do I really have a choice? I did promise you." He opened the mirror. "Let's go." They walked down in silence, giving each other sweet smiles. When they reached the boat, he broke the quiet."You know, besides whatever you have in mind, there's something else I want to give you while we're down there."

"Oh, yeah? What is it?" She grinned.

"You'll just have to wait and see." He smirked back. "Unless you want to tell me your little secret."

"Nice try, but you've got to wait."

"Then so do you."

"Not really. Look, we're here!" She hopped out of the boat and did a pirouette like some kind of bizarre fairy in a dance skirt and oxford. "So, tell me your surprise."

"Ladies first. What do I have to give you as an apology?"

"Easy. You."

"Me?"

"You. Is there an echo in here? Are we doing 'La Vie Boheme?' Should I break out the AZT?" She demanded with a giggle.

"Okay, now you're mocking me. I just don't get what you mean. Why do you 'want' me? You've practically had me since I was four."

"What?"

"This is my surprise." He sat down at the keyboard and switched it on. "Would you hand me that sky blue folder, please?" She passed it to him. "Thanks, love. Now listen. Don't speak. Just listen. I wrote this for you when I was four. It was a dream, but I know it was you. The little girl singing in the dream had your hair, your eyes and your smile. Whenever I went back to sleep after that, I was hoping that I'd have the same dream. When it never happened, I wrote this." He started playing the bittersweet melody.

"The day starts, the day ends ... Time crawls by ... Night steals in, pacing the floor ... The moments creep, yet I can't bear to sleep ... Till I hear you sing ... And weeks pass, and months pass ... Seasons fly ... Still you don't walk through the door ... And in a haze ... I count the silent days ... Till I hear you sing once more ... And sometimes at night time ... I dream that you are there ... But wake holding nothing but the empty air ... And years come, and years go ... Time runs dry ... Still I ache down to the core ... My broken soul ... Can't be alive and whole ... Till I hear you sing once more ... And music, your music ... It teases at my ear ... I turn and it fades away and you're not here ... Let hopes pass, let dreams pass ... Let them die ... Without you, what are they for? I'll always feel ... No more than halfway real ... Till I hear you sing once more ..."

"Till I Hear You Sing? You wrote this?" She whispered. "But I thought ..."

"I sent it to him. A 'loaner,' you could say. So, you like it?"

"Like it? I've always loved this song, but it's even better now that I know it was meant for me."

"Well, whatever you require of me, Mademoiselle Daae, I am at your service."

"I've been thinking a lot since what happened with Joey. The guy who did it still hasn't been caught, and I'm worried that he'll go for you next. So, on the chance that it does happen… I want to know what it's like to experience real—"

"Charlotte, I am not going to do that!"

"You promised me." She pouted. "Come on, pleeeeeease?"

"No. No. No. I can't hear you. Lalalalala."

"It'll be easy. Like that song from _Wicked_." She began to sing it. "Kiss me too fiercely, hold me too tight. I need help believing you're with me, tonight. My wildest dreamings could not forsee lying beside you, with you wanting me. And just for this moment, as long as you're mine, I've lost all resistance and crossed some border line, and if it turns out it's over too fast, I'll make every last moment last, as long as you're mine."

"All right, fine, you win, but this is the only time. I'm holding you to your word about Juilliard. Maybe I'm brainless, maybe I'm wise, but you've got me seeing through different eyes, somehow I've fallen under your spell, and somehow I'm feeling, it's up that I fell." He sang too, and they started the duet part.

"Every moment, as long as you're mine, I'll wake up my body, and make up for lost time. Say there's no future, for us as a pair… And though I may know, I don't care, if just for this moment, as long as you're mine, come be how you want to, and see how bright we shine! Borrow the moonlight until it is through and know I'll be here holding you...as long as you're mine…"

******

Me: And, that, Lila, is how I create the idea of a lemon.


	13. Interlude1:Twincest, Texts, and Threats

A/N: From this chapter on, I'm afraid Lila Caffee will no longer be participating in my disclaimers. My neck is going to have permanent rope burn from all those Punjabs. So, you know the drill. I'm using more lyrics from _Love Never Dies_ in this chapter. Oh my Phantom, Sierra Boggess and Ramin Karimloo are so amazing in their roles of Phantom and Christine, that amazing doesn't even cover their talents. ALW actually called Ramin a 'very sexy Phantom.' So glad I got the deluxe soundtrack with DVD. Awesome! PS: To LittleMagarita, I appreciate your offer, but I just learned how to use the preterite. Yeah, 7 years of Spanish classes and I only just learned how to use the preterite. Jeez. Low quality education much? And if any of you don't know what Ouran High School Host Club is, look it up on YouTube. As to Asterix, it's a popular French comic about ancient Gauls, aka French people. Check Wikipedia for more info. I have a chapter to start. This is going to be a major comedy chapter, split into two parts, where people lose Mary-Sueish qualities. Just wait till you see what I've got planned for Maggie later on.

* * *

_Who knows when love begins?_

The darkness was swelling around her, threatening to swallow her.

_Who knows what makes it start?_

Whatever was in that black nothingness, its intent was to harm her and all she loved.

_One day it's simply there, alive inside in your heart._

The pain in her chest was intense, as if someone had reached into her chest and was twisting her heart around while squeezing too tightly to allow any blood to pass through her veins.

_It slips into your thoughts, it infiltrates your soul, it takes you by surprise, then seizes full control._

It didn't matter, because she had to keep going, had to save those precious things.

_Try to deny it, and try to protest, but love won't let you go, once you've been possessed._

It made no sense, she knew she was heading into danger, she could die.

_Love never dies._

The dark bore down on her, pressure increasing to the point where she should have melted into a puddle.

_Love never falters._

Yet she kept going, completely unafraid for herself.

_Once it has spoken, love is yours._

Some things are just so precious, you are willing to give your life for them.

_Love never fades._

If anything, the pain in her chest was spreading, setting her entire soul on fire.

_Love never alters._

That didn't change her course, at all.

_Hearts may get broken, love endures…_

Time was running out.

_Hearts may get broken, love endures._

She needed to hurry.

_And soon as you submit, surrender flesh and bone, that love takes on a life much bigger than your own._

There was so much at stake here.

_It uses you at whim and drives you to despair._

A rough hand seizes her, and a new sharp pain shoots through her wrist.

_And forces you to feel more joy than you can bear._

"Finally, Christine. Finally."

_Love gives you pleasure, and love brings you pain!_

She turns and sees a man's face, his flesh burned away, mutilated skin and blood visible.

_And yet, when both are gone, love will still remain._

"STOP IT! I'M NOT CHRISTINE! I'M CHARLOTTE! I'M STRONG! I'M INDEPENDENT!"

_Once it has spoken, love is yours._

"I WON'T MAKE _HER_ MISTAKES! I WILL STAY LOYAL TO THE MAN I LOVE!"

_Love never dies, love never alters, hearts may get broken, love endures…_

"Let. Me. Go. Now."

_Hearts may get broken._

The sadness in the man's eyes made her rethink her words.

_Love never dies!_

"I'm sorry."

_Love will continue!_

He pulls her closer and a new pain spreads from below.

_Love keeps on beating when you're gone!_

"NO! No, stop, please! Someone, help me! Let me die, please, let me die!"

_Love never dies once it is in you!_

A new voice, one snakelike and almost familiar: "Your wish is my command."

_Life may be fleeting..._

All other feelings disappear as her shoulder explodes with fire and poison.

_Love lives on…_

Nothing left of her now, as the fire consumes her, from within.

_Life may be fleeting..._

"Goodbye, Charlotte."

_Love lives on._

"HE-ELP!" Charlotte's eyes snapped open. Her entire body was covered in a cold sweat, like an icy wet sheet, and her sheets were wrapped around her legs like a pair of vines. Her blue iHome had jarred awake and started playing Love Never Dies at full volume under her dorm bed.

"Lotte, go back to sleep!" Maggie mumbled. "Oh, and turn that off."

"Used to be glad I moved to the Opera dormitory." Charlotte muttered, as she jabbed the off button with her thumb. For about twenty minutes, she stared at the chipping plaster ceiling. _Come on, sleep, you ditz_, she thought. It was clear she'd spent too much time on YouTube. The Phantom in her dream was obviously the Robert Englund version, one of the creepier Eriks she'd seen, and his evil stare in the dream was unnerving. "I'm never going to get to sleep like this." She swung her legs out of bed like a pendulum and slid on her slippers. Wrapping her blue bathrobe around her night gown, she reached under her bed and pulled out a tiny leather satchel. "Things always seem clearer on the roof," she murmured.

* * *

_Bleep! Bleep!_ Erik raised his head out of the pillow to see his ancient laptop bleating on the Skype application.

**CALL FROM LW, A.**

"Shit." Erik muttered. "He always calls me at the worst time. It's thirty minutes past midnight!" He banged his hand on the little mouse-pad. "Whatever you have to say, make it fast."

"Erik, is that really necessary?"

"Was it really necessary for you to wake me up? You know what my dad was like when you woke him up uninvited!" Erik hissed. "Just let me sleep, would you, Andrew? If you're only calling to ask me to the premiere, you're wasting your time. I already told you, the Opera International will be on tour by that time! Now hang up!" He followed his own advice and shut the computer down. "Damn, I hate these stupid famous composers! I don't care if he is my godfather, Andrew Lloyd Webber is a pain in my ass!"

His father had just _had _to send a few of his 'crap' compositions to Andrew Lloyd Webber for _Cats_, and then start corresponding with the composer, and then ask him to be Erik's godfather! Andrew was nice, but he was bent on announcing Erik as his protégé at the _Love Never Dies _premiere, and Erik didn't _want_ to be announced.

He flipped over onto his front and yawned. "I said I'd do it when I'm ready, and I'm not ready! What the…" A soft string of notes floated down through the lair. "Hmmmm. It's definitely coming from the roof." He rose and opened the wardrobe, pulling out a fur-lined black cape. "Might as well check what it is."

***The previous morning: December 19, 2009***

"Okay, everyone." Marie sank into her director's chair. "Notes time. I can already say that there are far too many of them for my taste-"

"Say most of them are about me, and I'll scream!" Charlotte called with a smirk.

"Actually, it seems most of them are about Edward. Oh, check this one out." Erik smiled. "Edward: Move around more often during Opera scenes. This isn't _Twilight_, so don't try to stay as still a vampire!" Everyone laughed.

"Don't you love how up-to-date Maria is?" Tomas asked, with an elbow in the ribs to his twin. "Maybe she even knows what we do."

"You mean people know about us?" Andre cried melodramatically.

"Know about what?" Kate demanded.

"¡Incesto de los gemelos!" The twins chorused.

"TWINCEST!" Emiko, an avid Ouran High School Host Club _otaku_, squealed in delight.

"Verdad." Andre snapped his fingers and wrapped his limbs around his older twin brother. "You said we could keep it to ourselves, just like what we do at night, Tomas! How could you tell everyone? Tu eres muy antipático."

"Lo siento, Andre. Pero, tu eres que adorable cuando tu eres alterado."

"Eeeeeee!" Several of the girls squealed.

"Oh my god, this is so intense!" Giulietta shrieked.

"I think it's stupid." Edward muttered, not even looking up from his cell phone.

"I'm laughing so hard I think I'm gonna puke." Louisa gasped. "Excuse me." She hurried out, shaking. Onstage, the twins had continued their 'brotherly love' act.

"Cut it out!" Edward yelled.

"Maybe we will, maybe we won't. Oh, I know! We'll stop," One twin declared as he and the other twin pulled off their shirts and messed up their hair. "If you can guess which of us is Tomas and which of us is Andre."

"Yay!" Emiko squealed. "Ouran! Ouran! Ouran! The which one is Hikaru-kun game! Pick me! Pick me! Pick Me!" The twins finished spinning around.

"So?" The twin sang in unison. "Which of us is Tomas and which is Andre?"

"This is too stupid." Erik muttered. "The twin on the right is Andre and Tomas is on the left, Em."

"How do you know?" She demanded.

"Well, the twins _are_ both baritones, but Andre has a voice that's slightly deeper. Only slightly, but still." Erik rolled his eyes. "Every trained Phantom can identify voices that well."

"And there have been how many trained Phantoms?" Jakkob demanded.

"Six." Erik said casually. "Although you'd be surprised by how much my family has influenced various productions of our story. Lemme see… Grampa Erik helped Robert Englund out with his character. Dad corresponded with Charles Dance. I think there was even someone who worked with Michael Crawford and Lon Chaney, Jr…" He stopped as he noticed everyone staring. "What? Have I sprouted a third eye, or something? I may have a disfigured face, but I'm not a freak!"

"We know." Robby muttered. "Just let every other bombshell loose now, Erik. Are your ancestors also secretly Rodgers and Hammerstein?"

"No, but my dad sent in some of his 'rubbish' to ALW for _Cats_. After that, the two of them became really good friends. Do you know he's my godfather?"

"Nao, but if you 'um a cupple o' bawrs oy'll faike it." Marty drawled after a moment of awkward silence. "You knoaw it's wheyierd. Oy wuz sorta egspectin' sahmwon to sy gaiy baiybee."

"What?" Robby hissed. "Did anyone understand him? Because I didn't and I'm British, as well."

"I know." Maggie said, with a smile. "Kate and I've trained ourselves to translate Cockney accents ever since we first saw _My Fair Lady_. He said, 'No, but if you hum a couple of bars, I'll fake it. You know, it's weird. I was expecting someone to say gay baby.'"

"And I-a thought-a only Amereecans do-a that." Isabella said, with an eye roll. "The-a Breeteesh people here are crazy!"

"So are the Romans!" Chanel said, barely looking up from her Asterix comics. "In other words, Isabelle, that means you."

"Could we please get back to notes?" Marie yelled. "Merci. Now then, my ballerinas, we need to be precise. Yes, the dancing is supposed to be awful during the gala, but if you're excellent in rehearsal, it makes it all that much comical. Isabella, stop slurring your words. We all know you have an authentic Italian accent, but dropping into your native tongue that frequently will not be greeted with a sense of humor from anyone, Italian or otherwise."

_Bzzzzzzzzz-bzzzzzzzzzzzz_. Charlotte's phone vibrated in her sweatshirt pocket. Maggie's IM Dance10Looks3 was visible on the display. She'd designed it after first seeing _A Chorus Line_ and she thought it was even cooler that her birthday was October 3.

**Dance10Looks3: Since we get 12/24 off, do u want 2 go shopping w/ me, KT, Is. & Lu?**

**LittleLotte: Sure. I dont have any other plans yet.**

**Dance10Looks3: Not even w/ PTO?**

**LittleLotte: He hasn't said anything yet.**

**Dance10Looks3: U must b awful (a) luv.**

**LittleLotte: Not as bad as u.**

**Dance10Looks3**:** So ur not a virgin anymore?**

**LittleLotte: Ew, no! I still am. I ment u've had worse luck in luv than I have.**

**Dance10Looks3**:** Ur so lying.**

**LittleLotte: Am not!**

**KissMeKate: U 2 better focus and say thx 2 me 4 taking notes, b/c u just missed a mjr costume note, Lotte.**

**LittleLotte: Which was?**

**KissMeKate: Were going back 2 the original TOM costume. White dress takes 2 long.**

**Dance10Looks3**: **Awwwwwww, & I liked it.**

**KissMeKate: Me 2, but apparently JS said no.**

**LittleLotte: So hez coming? What abt ER? GB? PW? MC? Every SB?**

**KissMeKate: & RK & a lot of LND CMs.**

**Dance10Looks3:WOW!**

**LittleLotte: U said it.**

**BethGiry: And now I am saying put the phones away, girls.**

Blushing, all three girls slid their phones into pockets and tuned back in to notes. "Our last note is that we're putting the 'go now' part to a vote. Do we want Angel in Hell or Take her and go? Hands, please." A crop of hands shot up.

"All right, that makes it…" But Marie never finished, because at that moment, a shriek ten times as loud and high as anything Isabella could sing rang through the theater. "Margaret!"

"It wasn't me!" Maggie protested. "So, who...aaaigh!" She let out a scream of her own, not quite as high and loud. It was the difference between blasting a CD on speakers as opposed to headphones.

"Aow, moy Gawd! Tal me that's nawt spozed t' be meh!" Marty pointed at the dropped dummy. It was still Marty, but someone had replaced the clothes with a tuxedo and covered the face with a white-half mask.

"No. I think it's meant to be Erik." Giulietta whispered. "At least he's not… wait, Charlotte!"

"Just let me look, Giul." Charlotte cautiously pulled her self onstage and walked towards the dummy. "There's a piece of paper in its hand. Just let me…" Her fingers pried the polymer ones open gently. "It's a message. 'The writing is on the wall, or rather, the floor.' I don't recognize the handwriting." Erik's head instantly snapped towards Edward.

"What? Why are you looking at me?" Edward demanded.

"I think you know exactly why I'm looking at you, Finalman!"

"Erik, please, would you calm down?"

"Okay, what are you doing now? You never call me Erik! What are you trying to hide?"

"Nothing!" Edward raised his hands. "I just thought for a long time about yesterday and I realized something important. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure Lottie's happy. And if you're what she wants, then that's that. Besides, you had a point. I could get any girl I want. So, what do you say, Erik? Peace? Friends?" He held out his hand.

"Yeah, I guess so. That'd be cool. Phantom and Raoul at a truce. Friends, Edward." Erik stuck out his own hand and the two boys shook.

"Oh! So touching!" The twins rolled their eyes in unison.

"Get down." Kate hissed."All three of you. I'm just as moved by the peace, but we've gotta find Louisa. I think she must've been the one who screamed, since no one in here did it. Oh. Speak of the devil." Louisa ran in, panting heavily.

"Marie! It's... it's awful! In the practice room! There's... there's blood on the floor! And it's not just a splotch! It's words!"

"What did it say, Lu?" Maggie whispered in horror. "Do you remember?"

"I'll never forget. It was just so horrible. It said," Louisa paused to take a shaky breath. "_Second warning. Surrender Christine to me, or I will strike again, and when I do, the consequences shall be far more devastating._" Everyone immediately turned to Charlotte.

"Okay, that's it. Tomas? Andre? Are you two responsible for this little joke? Robby? Hans? Jakkob? Viktor?" Charlotte planted her hands on her hips and sent what had become known as the 'South Pole' glare at them. "Sandro? Edward? Come on, someone, 'fess up."

"This isn't a joke." Kate whispered hoarsely. "Second warning, Lottie. Second! That means Joey was the first. This guy's after you and he's following the pattern of the first Phantom to get to you!"

***December 20, 2009**

"Mmmm. No. That's not it at all." Charlotte muttered. "What was I thinking? I'm not like Erik. This is so stupid! No, I'm stupid. Well, let's just see what I wrote last year.' She flipped through the pages of her journal quickly. "Oh. It's an entry for Grand-père. I must have been thinking about Easter. Hm. At Christmas time? I am a weird girl. Oh, right, I was thinking about how he and Mamon got me confirmed, since Mom and Dad never did." She fingered the delicate silver cross on the waistlong chain around her neck. "Moi je t'aime, Grand-père et Mamon. Bonne nuit." She slipped off the winged horse sculpture and hurried towards the door, down the stairs and back into bed. "Watch over me. Keep my dreams safe."

* * *

"How did this happen?" Erik muttered. "I must be going crazy or soemthing. I could've sworn I heard singing." He let out a huff. _Does being psycho just come with the territory, if you're the Phantom?_ He refused to say it out loud, because then he'd be talking to statuary. "Wait a second." He lifted two flittering pieces of wet paper out of the snow. "Poetry," he murmured."But whose is it?" He turned both sheets over in his hands, but all he could find for ID was a crescent moon with a circle in the bottom half.

*****Christmas Eve: December 24, 2009******

"You're not _honestly_ wearing that, are you, Lottie?" Louisa wrinkled her nose. "A sweatsuit and ballet flats? That's so casual! We're in Paris, the fashion capital of the world and you're wearing a red knockoff Juicy Couture sweatsuit!"

Charlotte brushed her overgrown bangs out of her face with a candy-cane striped headband. "Tis the season, Lu. My mom used to call this my Santa baby outfit."

"A Santa Baby outfit is an outfit like what Angel wears for Today 4 You in RENT. What you're wearing is just lazy." Louisa snapped. Charlotte sighed, and Maggie could tell her friend was in no mood to argue with the Austrian-American dance-fashionista before their shopping expedition. She pulled her drowsy sister out the door

"Mags, Kate. You're here." Charlotte grinned, obviously glad for the distraction.

Louisa scowled at the sight of Maggie's jeans, UGGs and oversized hoodie, and it got bigger when she saw Kate's dance pants, sneakers and cashmere V-neck. "Do any of you pay attention to your surroundings? This is PARIS! PARIS! And you're dressed like that?" She broke off into a string of German words, most likely curses. "I hope, for her own sake, Isabella's better attired."

"Speak of the diva." Kate joked. Isabella stumbled out in Versace jeans and matching Armani blouse and boots.

"Did we have to get up at a-seven?" She muttered.

"Um, duh! Hurry, before all the good stores in the Champs-Élysées get too crowded!" Louisa took off, then immediately stumbled in her stiletto boots.

"Lu, it's a ten minute walk. Are you really up for it?" Maggie looked up from checking Google Maps on her Palm Treo.

"Of course, I am!" Louisa yelled, already halfway down the street. Maggie rolled her eyes and dashed after her friend, with the others in tow. Or so she thought.

"Hey, wait a sec." Kate stopped in front of Abercrombie and Fitch. "Where's Lottie?"

* * *

At that moment, Charlotte was struggling with a muscular boy in a back alley off the main avenue. "Hey, come on, I'm not going to say it again. I need to get back to my friends." She tried to wriggle free.

"Oh, yeah, you keep shaking that sexy little body. I like curvy blondes." The boy's hand began travelling down her backside.

"Do you mind? That spot's reserved." She tried to kick him in his private area, but he dodged.

"Feisty, too. You may just wind up being my favorite." He stroked her chin.

"Drew, get off her!" A new, almost familiar, voice interrupted the pervert.

"Why don't you make me?" Casanova Drew sneered. "I can take you any day of the week."

"Then put my friend down and prove it."

* * *

A/N: This concludes Part 1 of the interlude. Who is this mystery savior? What has Charlotte gotten herself into this time around? And if Edward wasn't able to pull the dummy prank, who is the Phantom Impersonator? What's going to happen next? Hell if I know. This story has a life of its own!


	14. Interlude2:Reunions, Rent, and Reese's

A/N: All right straight to the action. But I must apologize, for all of my other stories that aren't POTO related must be put on hold until I finish with this and _**Christine's Choice: Devil Take The Hindmost**_, my new LND fic. **WARNING! WARNING! THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M! IF YOU BECOME SQUEAMISH AT THE THOUGHT OF _RENT_, GO READ SOMETHING ELSE!**

* * *

Charlotte felt herself drop onto the stone street as she watched the dark silhouettes grapple. The two figures rose and fell like the crests of waves, then one fell and stayed down.

"Are you okay, Lottie?" She looked up to see her defender holding out his hand to help her up. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Great to see you again. Come on, get up."

"Aidan? Aidan Hites?" Charlotte grinned and hopped. "Oh, wow! It's been, like, forever!"

"Nah, just three years." Aidan grinned, flashing his black star spangled braces. "And before you ask, I'd have gotten them off, but Drew socked me in the mouth last year, and I had to get them back on."

"That sucks. Why didn't you get Invisalign?" Charlotte began heading back for the main avenue. "Walk with me, would you, Aid?"

"Sure, and I didn't get Invisalign because it's too expensive. Besides, it's not like I need to look good. I've left the stage in favor of the seats."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The New York Times recruited me to be their foreign theater critic, so I don't need to keep up appearances, right?"

"Really? That's amazing! So, what are you in Paris to review?"

"Have you heard of that new traveling theater company? L'Opera International? I'm supposed to go to their premiere of Phantom Of The Opera tomorrow. I can't say I'm entirely looking forward to it though."

"Why not?"

"Why do you think? That stupid Carlotta! I can't stand her voice! I've been watching all these different Phantom films, and no matter how I try, I just keep hating Carlotta!"

"What about Christine?" Charlotte whispered.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. I don't have anything against her, Lottie. After all, you're related to her, so she couldn't have been that bad."

"HITES!" A flurry of chestnut waves and blonde curls zipped past Charlotte, tackling Aidan.

"Maggie! Kate! Get off! He can't breathe." Louisa waved from a table at Brioche Doree. "Over here, Lottie. We got you hot chocolate."

"Oh, yes!" Charlotte rummaged through her bag. "Got it!"

"Pea-nut but-ter?" Aidan gasped out from beneath the Giry sisters.

"Peanut butter." Maggie nodded, rising.

"Peanut butter." Kate shook her head. "Have you ever had cocoa without it, Lottie?"

"Once. It tasted awful." Charlotte smirked, swirling a white plastic spoon through the JIF jar. After taking a liberal amount, she dropped it into her mug with a _plunk_! She lifted her concoction to her lips and took a long swig. "Mmmmm. Reese's."

"Reese's?" Isabella repeated. "What is Reese's?"

"Reese's Peanut Butter Cups." Aidan pulled up a chair from one of the other tables to sit with the girls. "Lottie's been addicted to them since we were three. She puts chocolate in peanut butter sandwiches, peanut butter on brownies, it goes on and on. Basically, with Lottie, you can't have one without the other. So, what brings you all to Paris?"

"What brings you?" Louisa cooed, batting her eyelashes and tossing her thick waterfall of black hair.

"Work." Aidan answered. "Do you have something in your eye?" Kate and Charlotte burst out laughing.

** KissMeKate: What is it w/ us?**

** LittleLotte: I know, right?**

** KissMeKate: Seriously! U were clueless abt EF, EF's clueless about Mags, Mags is clueless abt Hites, & Hites is clueless period!**

** LittleLotte: LOL, obv!**

** LaPiùGrandeDivaMai: Cosa?**

** LittleLotte: Inside joke, Is.**

** LaPiùGrandeDivaMai: Then focus! Luisa is trying to get the new prize!**

** KissMeKate: The new prize has a hopeless crush on my sister!**

"Oh." Isabella grinned. "Margarita is unaware?"

"Yup." Kate snickered. "I could spend hours watching her, Edward, and Hites locked in a room! It's seriously better than any comedy routine!"

"I know!" Charlotte giggled in a whisper. "It was so hilarious to watch them when we were doing _Seussical_! She was playing Gertrude, Edward was Horton, and Aidan was our stage manager. So, she was always singing Notice Me, Horton, Ed was staring at me while I was the Kangaroo, and Aidan kept trying to persuade Maggie to come over to him for discussions about her character! Ow!" She whirled to see Maggie holding a pair of nail clippers. "Mags, that hurt."

"Well, then would you quit babbling? You know Hites is like a brother to me!"

"Yeah, but Hites doesn't think so!" Kate gasped between titters. "Look!" Aidan was looking longingly at Maggie, while Louisa tugged at his curly milk-chocolate colored hair, trying to get his attention. Maggie joined in laughing.

"I guess he does look pretty silly. Hey, Aid, do you want to come back with us for the afternoon. The twins have decided to emcee this evening's festivities. It should be interesting, knowing those two."

"The twins?" Aidan's cheery blue eyes became downcast and his normally red flushed ears began to fade to pink.

"Tomas and Andre. They're working with us."

"Working? What are you working on?"

"Phantom of the Opera! The twins are playing Firmin and Andre, I'm Meg, Kate's Madame Giry-"

"Wait! You're all part of the Opera International? No way! That's why I'm here! I'm supposed to review your performance tomorrow!"

"That's so great!" Kate squealed and clapped her hands together in delight. "Ooh, and the party afterwards! You've just got to save at least one dance for him, Mags!"

"I do not!" Maggie whined. "It's a free country!"

"This isn't America." Louisa pointed out calmly. "And if you don't want to dance with him, can I?"

"Why not a-wait until-a the party?" Isabella twirled her cherry colored ringlets.

"Good idea." Charlotte smiled. "Unfortunately, I'm pretty much taken."

"I guess that means you and Edward really are together forever, huh?" Aidan grinned. "Wow, that's impressive."

"Edward and I broke up two years ago."

"You know Edward?"

"Uh, yeah. I met him at the same place I met Lottie and the Giry sisters, but we haven't worked with each other since _Cats_ in 2005."

"Tell us more, but when we're all together!" Louisa grinned.

"What happened to shopping?" Isabella wailed.

"We'll shop online! The chance to hear about little Lottie may never come again!"

"Um, all you have to do is play track five of the Phantom of the Opera OST!" Charlotte huffed. "Besides, I haven't even finished my cocoa yet!"

"Take it ToGo." Kate suggested. "Mom's been raving about the former Rum-Tum-Tugger. I'm sure she'd be thrilled to see you again, Hites."

"I don't … aw, who am I kidding? It beats getting fast food with Drew. I'd love to come." He stood up. "Serveur? Les boissons de ces jeune filles sont sur moi."

"Oui, Monsieur." The waiter took a crisp euro from Aidan's hand. "Merci."

"Come on!" Louisa took off down the street again.

"There she goes." Kate rolled her eyes. "That girl belongs on _So You Think You Can Dance_, not in a corps de ballet."

"I don't know about that, Katie, but she definitely is energetic."Aidan shrugged. "I can't imagine how any of her boyfriends could've kept up with her."

"Oh, probably tied her down and made out extensively." Maggie giggled. "That's how Andre subdued her."

"Oh, that reminds me." Charlotte laughed. "Hey, Lu? What's the count?"

"Andre has four left, Kate has three."

"Count?" Aidan furrowed his brow.

"Si. Andre and Catalina are-a having a competition to see who is the faster a-mover. Whoever kisses all members of-a the opposite-a gender first, wins. Louisa is-a the scorekeeper." Isabella flipped a spiral of red ringlets over her shoulder.

"So, you're winning, Kate?"

"As far as I know. Who does he have left?"

"Mags, Lottie, Isabella, and you. You still need him … and the other two." Louisa rattled off the records from her BlackBerry. "You're going to get _their _permission for that." She jabbed a finger at Charlotte and Maggie.

"Do I have it?" Kate demanded eagerly. Maggie and Charlotte exchanged glances.

"Well, first," Charlotte began.

"It has to last less than five seconds." Maggie chirped.

"Frenching is absolutely out of the question." Charlotte added.

"It should really be more like a friendly peck."

"Make it clear that you have no interest in them." They finished in synchronization.

"Okay, fine! Whatever! I just have to prove to that jerk Andre that I'm a faster and better flirt! How dare he call me a tart!"

"You called him a Don Juan first, Katie-did." Maggie laughed, using Kate's childhood nickname.

"Only because he is!" Kate whined.

"I think we've been through this before, Kate. _Sweet Charity_, remember? You've always got boys checking in and checking out." Aidan grinned. "Yeah, that was a good show. I almost wet myself watching Edward play Herman."

"Tell me about it!" Maggie shrieked through her laughter. "He went higher than Carlotta when he was singing 'I Love To Cry At Weddings!'"

"And you, playing Nicki!" Charlotte gasped. "I haven't ever seen you act so vulgar!"

"I still did it, and you were a wonderful Rosie! And we can't forget Aidan's Charlie!"

"All I did was let Kate sit in my lap, and then push her into the pit!"

"Yeah, but it was hilarious!" Kate squealed. "We're here!"

"Oh, damn." Aidan cursed as his cell phone bleated the theme from _Ghostbusters_. "I forgot my conference call. I'm sorry, guys, but I guess I won't be able to meet the rest of the company until tomorrow. See you then." He placed the phone to his ear and headed off in the opposite direction. "Hey, speak to me."

"Oh, that sucks." Kate sighed. "Edward would've been psyched. The two of them are almost like brothers. And I bet he'd have liked to meet Erik."

* * *

"Hey, the girls are back!" Tomas called.

"Tomas, watch out!" Edward yelled as a red and green glitter covered skull fell. "Why did we let Chanel be in charge of ornaments? And since when should a human skull from _Robert le Diable_ be used on a Christmas tree?" He looked down to see Erik catch the skull and the female quintet. "Hey, welcome back, guys."

"Hey, Edward!" They chorused.

"I missed you, Margarita!" Andre leaned over from the other side of the tree and pecked Maggie's lips.

"Waaagh!" Maggie shrieked, reeling back. "Ooooh, Andre, you fuckin' bastard! Get back here!" Still screaming, she started chasing the younger twin around the fifteen-foot tree. "Damn it, how dare you kiss me like that!"

"She liked it." Kate smirked.

"She liked it." Charlotte murmured in agreement.

"She liked it." Isabella snickered.

"You guys are tied now." Louisa called. "Good job, Andre. And congrats on getting Petite Mademoiselle Innocent to swear."

"Aw, come on! Don't tell me you're on his side!" Kate wailed. "Lu, you're supposed to be my friend!"

"Sorry, Kate. All's fair in love and war, you know?" Kate scowled at Louisa.

"Hey, Charlotte?" Erik started climbing another ladder with the skull in his hand. " We're almost done here. Can you run down to the vaults for a wooden crate in the storeroom and big red box marked with a black S & M in my room?" The girls burst out laughing. "What?"

"Do you know what S & M stands for?" Maggie gasped between peals of laughter.

"Scripts and music?"

"He's clueless!"Louisa squealed in delight.

"Totally!" Kate snickered.

"A hope-a-less case!" Isabella snorted.

"Erik …" Charlotte shook her head. "We'll get the stuff. Come on, Maggie, we'll need two sets of hands." Watching the girls withdraw, Erik wrinkled his forehead in confusion.

"Dude, you are so lucky Lottie's as nuts about you as she is." Edward shook his head. "S & M stands for sadomasochism. If I'd said something like that, back when Lottie and I were dating, she'd have slapped me. I can't believe someone as smart as you doesn't know what S & M is."

"I can't help it! I've never been outside the Opera Populaire until December of this year." Erik gave Edward a pointed glance.

"How do you get food and that kind of thing?" Robby asked, fastening an old _Hannibal_ headdress to a branch.

"Oh, well I have friends … relatives … those who owe my family favors."

"What kaind of faiverrs?" Marty demanded.

"Saving of lives, assistance with debts, that kind of thing. My dad had a lot of allies."

"Allies?" The other boys repeated.

"Yeah, allies. Not friends. He was adamant that _our kind_ can never truely live in peace with ordinary humans. It's more than that. He hated humans."

"Even your madre?" Tomas asked skeptically.

"Mom was tolerated, mostly because she was so docile, and blind. Literally."

"Your mother was blind?" Robby echoed.

"Yes, and what's more she had this way of not being able to see bad in anyone. My dad could be drinking, hitting her, and sinking us into debt and she wouldn't have cared."

"Speaking of drunk and debtors, is that LND stuff going around really true?" Edward asked.

"What, about Gustave? It can't be. I've seen portraits of Gustave and Raoul. They look very alike, and what's more, according to Charlotte, Christine emphasized that Gustave was Raoul's child."

"Yeah, and doesn't your family have-" Andre started.

"A cursed face." Erik smiled wryly. "Glenn Slater, moron that he is, did get one thing right."

* * *

"Did you two have a fight or something?" Maggie asked as they headed down the regular stairs.

"No, of course not. What'd make you think that?" Charlotte countered.

"He'd usually take an opportunity like that to kiss you."

"He's not that kind of guy, Mags. Can you take this?" She passed a large crate of wine towards Maggie. "None for us yet. We'll make do with eggnog."

"How old are these?"

"Ask Erik. You take that back up, I'll get his music and libretti." Charlotte headed for the lair with a calm smile on her face. Inside, however, she was reeling. Maggie had a point. He hadn't called her love. He hadn't kissed her, or even given her a special smile. Maybe ... no, it couldn't be that. Erik wasn't _bored _with her! Maybe he was a little annoyed with her for making plans without him. Still thinking, she lifted up the crate and placed it in the boat. "Well, I can always talk to him when I get back."

* * *

"Soooo, who wants to hear what we have planned?" Tomas asked, hoisting himself up onto the stage.

"Um, yes!" Edward said. "So would you tell us already?"

"Fine." Andre rolled his eyes. "Some people are so impatient! Anyway, we thought everyone must be sick of Andrew Lloyd Webber-"

"Hear, hear!" Erik called.

"So, we thought it might be fun to do a sort of impromptu revue, without Ah-ellay-doble vay." (ALW en Español).

"And I've got something for anyone who doesn't want to be in our little show. I've hooked up a flat-screen to my computer and I've put all the Phantom Reviewer's videos and several different variations of the story. Robert Englund, Charles Dance, etc." Erik reported. "It's in the lounging area of Chanel's quarters."

"Just so long as there's no Dario Argento." Kate said, flashing a grin at Maggie.

"Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig! Wig!" Maggie started chanting in delight, many of the other PhantomReviewer addicts joining in.

"Guess we know where Maggie's going!" Emiko smiled.

"Like you're not going to spend the entire time watching anime!" Maggie snapped sourly.

"Andre got her?"

"Oh, yeah."

"It's no wonder she's being sulky. Why don't you start, Mags? It'll take your mind off of things." Kate suggested.

"Fine, but no overreacting. Erik, you'll accompany me?"

"Sure." Erik settled into the piano and Maggie passed him a sheet of music. "What the hell! Maggie?"

"Just come in on your cue." Maggie took a vampy stance in the middle of the stage, and the next words that came out her mouth made everyone else's drop. "So, the day after I turned 18, I kissed the folks goodbye, got on a Trailways bus - and headed for the big bad apple. Cause I wanted to be a Rockette.

"Oh, yeah, let's get one thing straight. See, I never heard about the Red Shoes, I never saw the Red Shoes, I didnt give a fuck about the Red Shoes. I decided to be a Rockette because this girl in my home town -Louella Heiner - had actually gotten out and made it New York. And she was a Rockette. We'll, she came home one Christmas to visit, and they gave her a parade. A goddamn parade! I twirled a friggin' baton for 2 hours in the rain. Unfortunately though, she got knocked up over Christmas. Merry Christmas - and never made it back to Radio City." She paused to giggle and smirk evilly.

"Is that our sweet little Maggie?" Edward whispered in horror. "She sounds so..."

"Honey, you ain't seen nothing yet." Charlotte whispered back.

"That was my plan. New York, New York. Except I had one minor problem. See, I was ugly as sin. I was ugly, skinny, homely, unattractive and flat as a pancake. Get the picture? Anyway, I got off this bus in my little white shoes, my little white tights, little white dress, my little ugly face, and my long blonde hair - which was natural then. I looked like a fucking nurse! I had 87 dollars in my pocket and seven years of tap and acrobatics. I could do a hundred and eighty degree split and come up tapping the Morse Code. Well, with that kind of talent I figured the Mayor would be waiting for me at Port Authority. Wrong! I had to wait 6 months for an audition. Well, finally the big day came. I showed up at the Music Hall with my red patent leather tap shoes. And I did my little tap routine. And this man said to me: Can you do fankicks? - Well, sure I could do terrific fankicks. But they werent good enough. Of course, what he was trying to tell me was...it was the way I looked, not the fankicks. So I said: Fuck you, Radio City and the Rockettes! I'm gonna make it on Broadway!

"Well, Broadway, same story. Every audition. I mean I'd dance rings around the other girls and find myself in the alley with the other rejects. But after a while I caught on. I mean I had eyes. I saw what they were hiring. I aslo swiped my dance card once after an audition. And on a scale of 10...they gave me for dance 10. For looks: 3. Well..." She immediately broke into the original Broadway choreography of Dance 10, Looks 3, never missing a step or a note. When she finished, those who weren't dazed clapped, and the next person took the stage.

***The Same Date: 8:45 PM***

"It's almost curfew!" The twins yelled.

"Awwwwwwwww." Everyone moaned. The revue had been an incredible success, ranging from Louisa's rendition of 'Happily Ever After' to Maggie, Kate and Charlotte's revival of 'Together Wherever We Go' from their days as the 'Triple Threat Teens,' to Edward's performance of 'Make 'em Laugh.'

"Well, did those we speak to memorize what we asked?" Erik, Charlotte, Robby, Maggie, Kate, Edward, Marty, Louisa, and Victor all nodded. "Take the stage for our finale." Robby immediately hopped up on one of the tables left over from the dinner break while the others sat.

"Dearly beloved, we gather here to say our goodbyes..." Erik and Tomas began to sing the Dies Irae, Kyrie eleison, and all other low men's parts. "Here she lies

No one knew her worth- the late great daughter of mother earth. On this night when we celebrate the birth in that little town of Bethlehem, we raise our glass- you bet your ass to-" Kate stood up and flashed hers for all to see. "La vie Boheme." Everyone began chanting and cheering as Robby kept going. "To days of inspiration, playing hooky, making something out of nothing, the need to express, to communicate, to going against the grain, going insane, going mad! To loving tension, no pension, to more than one dimension, to starving for attention, hating convention, hating pretension, not to mention of course, hating dear old mom and dad. To riding your bike, midday past the three-piece suits, to fruits, to no absolutes, to Absolute- to choice, to the Village Voice, to any passing fad, to being an us-for once-, instead of a them -"

"La vie boheme! La vie boheme." Maggie entered and Kate hopped her chair.

"Is the equipment in a pyramid?"

"It is, Maureen."

"The mixer doesn't have a case. Don't give me that face." She smacked Maggie's ass fondly.

"Ahem?" Viktor hissed.

"Hey, mister, she's my sister." Kate snapped her fingers as Marty ran down the table.

"Sao that's foive misoa soup, fowr seaweed salad, three soy buhger dinner, two taofu dog pladder, and one pawsta with meatless bawlls."

"Eew." Erik wrinkled his nose.

"It tastes the same." Tomas pointed out.

"If you close you eyes." Charlotte laughed.

"An' therrteen owrdehs of froies, izzat it 'ere?"

"Wine and beer!" Everyone yelled as Charlotte and Andre hopped up on the table.

"To hand-crafted beers made in local breweries!To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese! To leather, to dildos, to curry vindaloo! To huevos rancheros and Maya Angelou!" Kate and Tomas took over flawlessly.

"Emotion, devotion, to causing a commotion, Creation, vacation-"

"Mucho masturbation!" Everyone screamed. The number continued. Everyone was up, chanting and singing along when they knew the lines, but the real confrontation came at the solos 'in honor of the death of Bohemia.'

"And Roger will attempt to write a bittersweet evocative song." Robby called. Obligingly, Erik started to play something, then thought better of it and switched to an off-key, familiar tune. "That doesn't remind us of 'Musetta's Waltz.'" Charlotte kept her eyes on him, though that was not where the focus was. When Edward yelled 'check,' she tapped her fiancee on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, did I do something wrong? I get invited, then ignored all night long!" He whirled on her, and she checked his eyes, but found no clue.

"I've been trying, I'm not lying! No one's perfect, I've got baggage!"

"Life's too short, babe. Time is flying! I'm looking for baggage that goes with mine!" He stumbled, looking away at the force of her words.

"I should tell you..."

"I've got baggage,too! Should tell you, baggage, wine and beer!" They skipped over the AZT break part, which annoyed Charlotte, seeing as it would have been a chance for her to share an inside joke with Erik. He was gentle enough, but she could tell something was wrong when he started singing.

"I should tell you I'm disaster. I forget how to begin it."

She placed a finger to his lips. He'd had his mask off all day and everyone was starting to get comfortable around him, but there were still a few nervous cast members. "Let's just make this part go faster. I have yet to be in it. I should tell you..." _I should tell you that I hid your ring inside my bracelet._

"I should tell you..." He repeated unsteadily.

"I should tell you..." _I should tell you that I'm worried for your safety._

"I should tell you..."

"I should tell I blew the candle out," she smiled sheepishly. "Just to get back in..."

"I'd forgotten how to smile until your candle burned my skin..." Still no eye contact. Seriously? What was he doing?

"I should tell you..." _I should tell you I'm sorry I made plans without you._

"I should tell you..."

"I should tell you..." _I should tell you that I really want to tell I love you, but I don't know how to say it._ They started to sing in unison.

"I should tell... Well, here we go... Now we-"

"Oh no..." She smiled softly, as he hesitantly took her hand.

"I know this something is...Here goes..."

"Here goes..."

"Guess so ... It's starting to...Who knows?"

"Who knows..." She echoed again before her voice mixed with his. Despite the music, it felt quiet.

"Who knows where? Who goes there? Who knows? Here goes... Trusting desire, starting to learn... Walking through fire without a burn... Clinging a shoulder, a leap begins ... Stinging and older, asleep on pins...So here we go...Now we" She leaned in for a kiss, and he pulled back. Pulled back?

"Oh no..." He blurted.

"I know..." She touched his cheek gently.

"Oh no." Was she imagining, or had he really just shuddered at her touch?

"Who knows where? Who goes there? Here goes... Here goes... Here goes... Here goes... Here goes... Here goes... Here goes... Here goes... Here goes... " They finished the song and exited waiting for the final cue.

"Okay, tell me what's wrong." She demanded. "What'd I do?"

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just stressed out, Charlotte. Tomorrow, everything will be fine. I promise."

"Seal it with a kiss?"

"We're right on time." He pulled her back out with a smile as Robby said the final line of the night.

"Oblivious, Mimi and Roger share a small, lovely kiss." Lovely? Definitely. But small? No way. The two of them were sucking face like there was no tomorrow. Charlotte smiled to herself, glad they'd made up.

* * *

A/N: So concludes the interlude. Next time: Opening Night and Part 1 of the Finale. Until then, review, and check me out on Photobucket under CailieDiMekio. Thanks a million to everyone!


	15. Envy, Desire, and Secrets

Me (singing with my iPod, not noticing Lila playing the piano in the background): I should have known that you'd be here. I should have known it all along. This whole arrangement bears your stamp, you're in each measure of that song. How dare you try and claim me now? How dare you come invade my life?_ (Piano keys smash)_

Lila: NO! NO! NO! NO! Why can't I get that note right?

Me: Still haven't gotten the 'oh' in 'oh, Christine' right, mon ange?

Lila: It's killing me, Cailie!

Me: And any second now, _you'll_ be killing me. Didn't I lock you out?

Lila: Like a common lock's going to keep me out, Lotte.

Me: Common lock? That was DNA coded, electrically charged, with twenty titanium bolts!

Lila: Easy.

Me: Gah! You're impossible!

Lila: Maybe, but you love me anyway, Christine.

Me: Do I? There's always Raoul.

Lila: You hated him the last time we spoke.

Me: He got ahead of himself. He's been very sweet lately.

Lila: Don't come crying to me when the fop breaks your heart.

Me: He's not a fop! He has shorter hair than you do.

Lila: I'm a girl!

Me: Really? I hadn't guessed.

Lila: Oh, how original. I really have missed our little torture sessions.

Me: Torture sessions? This is supposed to be my disclaimer! GO AWAY! Let's take this outside and let the chapter start.

* * *

"You idiot!" Charlotte froze in mid-yawn outside the door to the girls' dormitory.

"Maggie, what did I do wrong?" Erik's voice was unmistakable.

"I think she knows! You started the act too early! If she figures it out, I'm blaming you!"

"What are you talking about?"

"After Christmas! That was what we agreed on! We don't start until after Christmas! Erik, you're going to ruin this!"

"No!" Charlotte gasped.

"Did you hear something?" Erik whispered.

"I knew we shouldn't have met here! It's too obvious! Come on, let's get downstairs."

"She might be waiting for me down there."

"Susana's practice room, then. You're right. The lair's too risky." Charlotte held her breath until their footsteps receded, then sank to the floor in tears.

"Lottie?" Edward's voice pierced her thoughts. He knelt down next to her. "Lottie, what's wrong?"

"WAAAAAAH!"Charlotte wailed, collapsing into his chest. Tears soaked his pajama top.

"Lottie ... Lottie, come on. Lottie, you're overestimating my self-control. Please say something before I kiss you." She raised a tear-stained face to look at him.

"I ... _sniff_ ... I thig Erig's gudda ... _sob_ ... break up with be and ... _wail_ ... start dating Baggie!" She bawled, her speech half-incomprehensible in sorrow.

"Shhhhh. Shhhhhh. It's okay, It's okay." Edward smoothed her hair away from her wet eyes. "Why? What makes you think he'd want to do that?" Charlotte gasped out an explanation that would have been indecipherable to anyone who hadn't spent fourteen years as her friend/boyfriend. "Okay, look. I'll talk to him, without mentioning that you overheard him, but you need to trust me. I promise I'll tell you what he says. Just be patient."

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" Charlotte wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Thank you, Edward! I know you won't let me down!"

* * *

Edward watched as Charlotte spun up, grinning, and disappeared into the girls' dormitory. His chest burned where she'd hugged him and other areas burned too. Namely, his heart. He was supposed to be over her! How could he keep up this charade? Charades? Of course he knew what Maggie and Erik were up to. He was part of it himself, but he couldn't tell Lottie that. It would ruin everything.

***December 25, 2009***

"Christmas! It's Christmas! Christmas! Yaaaaaaaay! Christmas! It's Christmas! Christmas! Yaaaaaaaay! Wheeeeeee!" Maggie's annual trill that welcomed Christmas morning pierced Charlotte's sleep.

"Shut the statue up!" Isabella called.

"That's enough, Little Dancer." Kate pinned her sister to an empty bed.

"But Kaaa-aaate!" Maggie wailed. "It's already noon and our call is at four! Pleeeeeeeease can we go downstairs? The boys already have lunch ready." She skipped out, still wearing a reindeer covered flannel nightgown.

* * *

When the lobby was filled with the company, shouts of 'Merry Christmas,' 'Feliz Navidad,' 'Joyeux Noël,' 'Buon Natale,' and every other language drowned out thought.

"Mon ange." Erik tapped Charlotte on the shoulder and gave her a warm kiss. "Merry Christmas."

"Is it?" Charlotte blinked innocently. "It's been so long since I've had a truly merry Christmas."

"Well, I hope this changes that." Erik pulled a shiny, gold wrapped package out of the Red Death suit, which he'd paired with a Santa hat and beard. He looked utterly ridiculous. Charlotte tore off the paper eagerly and an ebony box gleamed in the light. A perfect red rose was painted on the lid in lifelike detail. Wispy smoke-like white letters formed the words _My Angel, My One, My Only Love_.

"What's inside it? What's inside it? What's inside it?" Maggie and Kate both demanded, piling on top of Charlotte.

"Better open it before they break your back, Lottie." Edward called.

"Then tell them to get off of meeeeee!" Charlotte shrieked. The Girys hopped off. "Here it isn't!" She faked opening the lid. The sisters smash heads trying to look inside. "Three steps back, ladies. It's my gift." She lifted the lid and gasped. Clair de Lune began to chime as two small figures began to spiral upwards. "Oh!" Every detail was as distinct as the rose. The smaller figure was painted with waist-length blonde locks, individual hairs clear on her head. Her eyed were half-closed, a peaceful smile on her full lips. Erik had even gotten the color of her eyes exactly, and his own figure was no less lifelike. His brow was furrowed, but relaxed. Just as it had been their first night together. "It's beautiful!"

"That's not even the best part. Watch." The two figures began to move, not in a circle, but their arms and legs. After a few moments of dancing, Charlotte's figure leaned into Erik's, he lifted her up, and the tiny dancers kissed.

"Oh!" Charlotte repeated. "It's ... It's ... I need a better vocabulary."

"Wait." Erik pressed a small button and the pedestal of the two dancers flipped open, revealing a studded disc. Flipping it over, he replaced the pedestal. A new tune began to chime, one Charlotte recognized. She sang along softly. "_Your eyes see but my shadow ... My heart is overflowing ... __There so much you can learn to love ... You're not content knowing ... __Tenderly you could see my soul ..."_ She stopped, realizing something. "Where is everyone?"

"They left to get changed." Erik pressed an album filled with more studded discs into her hands. "We're alone."

"Mmmmm." She stood on tiptoes to kiss him. "Here's _your_ present." She handed him a large black wrapped box. "Careful when you open it. It's fragile and very old."

"Thank you, cherie." He nodded and gently removed the paper. "No way! Charlotte, where did you get this?"

"Same place I got my bracelet, _her_ diary, and like half of the crap I own. It's de Chagny family inheritance. I found this in a trunk with a bunch of old clothes and libretti."

"Seriously? You inherited the full score of _Don Juan Triumphant _and you're just giving it to me? A lost musical treasure?"

"It was yours to begin with."

"I have no idea what to say."

"'Thank you' wouldn't be too bad."

"How about I just do this?" He scooped her up bridal style and kissed her. They remained in that position for the next fifteen minutes, at which point, three stagehands and the twins had to pry them apart to get them into costume.

* * *

"EEEEEEK! Gerik sighting!" Louisa squealed. "There's Sarah Brightman, ugh, she looks like a possessed beaver, as usual. OH MY FREAKING GOD! There's Ramin Karimloo!"

"Lu, you're hyperventilat- OMG, Patrick Wilson!" Kate shrieked.

"I like him better with the extensions." Maggie commented, looking at the actor's face on the screen of Louisa's laptop. "Eeeeew! It's Julian Sands!"

"No way! Is Asia Argento with him?" Edward asked eagerly. "Dudes, have you seen her chest? It's epic!"

"Aow, lehmme see!" Marty pushed aside several of the girls, trying to get a better look at the screen.

"She's-a not-a there." Isabella snapped. "Perverts."

"And seriously? I have bigger boobs than Asia Argento does, and mine are real." Kate said with an eye roll.

"Whose idea was it to invite any of the Dario Argento cast, anyway?" Robby demanded. "It's absolute crap."

"Julian was a well-known face." Erik answered. "Dammit, Emi, are you done smearing gunk on my face?"

"Hold still."

"What's the point of making me look like this? My face is already screwed up enough! Do you have to make me look totally sun-depraved too?"

"You mean you're not?" Tomas laughed. Emiko's eyeliner nearly impaled his arm.

"Say that again and you better not go anywhere without a gas mask." Erik warned. "And I wouldn't carry matches, any of you. One spark and we all go bonne nuit!"

"He's going down the bad road. What's next, 'the grasshopper jumps jolly high?' S'il vous plaît, Charlotte, convince him to cut it out." Chanel said. "Maggie, would you please stay in one place? I can't fix the rip if you're moving."

"Sorry." Maggie shrugged. Charlotte turned to Erik.

"Erik, behave, or you won't get any dances with me tonight, and I will set the PhanGirls on you."

"PhanGirls?" Erik rolled his eyes. "As if a couple of girls are going to stop me from claiming the Angel of Music."

"How about if they fill half the theater and are rabid die-hards?" Charlotte countered.

"Boom!" Erik shrugged his own shoulders.

"You'd light the stores of gunpowder just to get rid of some PhanGirls?" Edward demanded incredulously.

"Phantom powder." Erik corrected.

"You promised, Erik. Ow!"

"Sorry." Giulietta pulled her curling wand away from Charlotte's now-burnt neck. "Well, your hair's done."

"Good. Next time, can I just get a perm?"

"It would only make your hair frizzy." Emiko pointed out. "And you didn't want the wet-hair-overnight treatment."

"Fair enough." Charlotte sighed. "Erik, could you put your hand on my neck?" Erik obliged, and Edward raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, Lottie, his hands couldn't be that cold."

"Wanna bet?" Erik lunged, quickly getting his hands around Edward's throat.

"Whoa! Dude, your hands are like ice!"

"What know you of icy hell, when you have tasted only the flames of desire?" Erik smirked.

"You were reading Shakespeare again, weren't you?"

"Robert Frost, actually." Erik pulled his hand away. "Sorry about that."

"S'okay." Edward rubbed his neck. "Remind me never to get in a real fight with you."

"I'll make a note of that." Erik grinned. "I'd hate to have you taste a kiss from death."

"I don't know ... I'd like to kiss an angel." Edward mused.

"Charlotte." Erik reminded him.

"Well, Lottie's good and all,"

"Oh, wow, thanks, Edward!" Charlotte called without tearing her eyes away from Charlie Manton, Richard Linnel, Harry Child and the four other Gustaves. "They are so adorable!"

"As I was saying, Lottie's a great kisser, but you don't know awesome until Kate. So, I knew awesome this morning under the mistletoe."

"Doubtful." Erik said with a wink to Charlotte.

"Wanna feel the difference?" Kate grinned. In one catlike motion, she swiveled towards Erik, lunged and pecked his lips, snapping back before he could slap her. "And that means..."

"You've got only one left!" Louisa grinned, raising her hand for a high-five. Kate met it with firework level energy.

"Damn!" Erik moaned. "My lips are tainted!"

"Aw, come on! It was just a peck, it couldn't have been that bad!" Kate whined, her pride stung.

"Stay out of my way, Kate, until we encounter each other in Act Two, got it?"

"Got it." Kate squeaked.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Opera Populaire and tonight's debut of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom Of The Opera. The young men and women that make up our cast have worked extremely hard, so in order to appreciate their dedication, please take this opportunity to turn off all cellphones, pagers, and other noisemaking or electronic devices. In the event of an emergency, be it fire, flood, or falling chandelier, we ask that you leave the theatre by the nearest exit in a calm and orderly fashion."

Charlotte and Maggie made faces and mouthed the pre-curtain speech along with Marie, a tradition they'd had for years. "Our final request is that, unless given specific invitation, no one enter Box Five. Thank you, and please enjoy the show."

"Go! Go!" Kate giggled, pushing them towards their pillars. "Break a leg! You're gonna be awesome!"

* * *

Two numbers left in the show and Erik was hiding in Don Juan's tent, waiting for his cue and trying to decipher the actual opera. He'd mostly skipped over the first act, and was currently translating the part just after Point of No Return, the supposed All I Ask Of You reprise. The real thing, what Don Juan had been supposed to sing, was the same tune, but different words.

_Now I've tasted what I so desired._

_You have let me be a part of you._

_Now, I must depart, and soon forget you_

_But believe that what I say is true_

_Aminta, my heart will stay with you._

"Yeah, right." Erik muttered softly, throwing his voice into the corridor towards the dressing rooms, so that no one would hear him. 'Soon forget?' A real Don Juan would have forgotten Aminta the second he was done screwing her, as Edward would have put it. He paused to listen. The chorus had just reached 'Don Juan triumphs once again.' He wondered ... Everything really depended on him, Edward, and Charlotte from the point Sandro stepped through the tent. That made him wonder what Charlotte was up to.

* * *

At that moment, Charlotte was listening to her Prep Playlist, the one she usually only listened to at the beginning of acts, before the curtain rose. The collection of songs both got her calmed down and hyped up. She'd already gone through I Have A Dream (Mamma Mia), You'll Never Walk Alone (Carousel), Breathe (Taylor Swift), Hold Your Head Up High (Honk) and was in the middle of Spark of Creation (Children of Eden). She bobbed her head in rhythm to the upbeat tempo. She felt a stab of pain and looked up to see Maggie displaying pincher-fingers. _Go_, Maggie mouthed. Charlotte nodded and rose ... what happened for the rest of the show passed in a haze. Charlotte remembered the feel of Erik's lips against hers, the mingling of their tears, the echo of his brokenhearted song, the thunderous applause as the two of them dropped down on a Punjab lasso for the curtain call. But no words registered, only sounds, sensations, and emotions. "Come on!" Maggie giggled, tugging Charlotte back to the dressing room. "Omigod, you were so incredible, Lottie!"

"Maggie, slow down!" Charlotte gasped. She was trying to figure out what she was going to wear, seeing as she'd had no room for a fancy dress in her luggage.

"The blue one's yours and I'm in pink."

"What?"

"Remember? Chan said she was providing us all with clothes for the gala. She told me you're in a blue dress and I'm wearing the pink one."

"Are we?" Charlotte murmured distractedly.

"Hello? Get your head back down to earth, angel-brain." Maggie tugged a snarled strand of Charlotte's honey-colored hair. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." Charlotte opened the dressing room door. "Come on, let's cover up the mirror, seeing as Messieur le Pervert has already gone down below."

"Agreed." Maggie laughed and picked up a blue wrapped package to pass to Charlotte. "Dibs on the changing screen, anyway."

"Grrrrrrrrr." Charlotte growled in mock anger, pulling out the dress from its package and changing out of the wedding gown.

"Can I see?" Maggie asked eagerly, poking her head around the screen. "Ooh, you look great already. Do my hair and makeup, and I'll do yours."

"Deal." Charlotte covered the vanity mirror as well as the already covered full-length mirror. "No looking 'til we're done." She examined Maggie's face and dress. Maggie's makeup and hair had to match her dress. At the moment, her bare face and loose curls made her look like a little girl playing dress-up in her mother's clothing. After much contemplation, she twisted the top layer of Maggie's curls into a French twist and left the remaining ones loose, sticking her Masquerade rosette pin into the twist. For the face, she used her Masquerade makeup. "Oh, wow. I barely recognize you. Now you do me." Maggie took a lot longer to do Charlotte.

"Knock knock." Edward called. "Are you two done? Erik and I can't be kept waiting much longer."

"I second that!" Erik said. "Come out now, s'il vous plaît."

"You come in." Maggie countered. "I just finished anyway."

* * *

"Whoa." Edward and Erik gasped in unison. Maggie looked beautiful, fresh, young, and sophisticated at the same time, but it was Charlotte who commanded attention.

Erik thought if _she needs better words to describe the music box, I'll need even better ones to describe her_. Chanel had created a masterpiece of fabric, but Charlotte brought it to life. The gown was a deep midnight blue, which made Charlotte's pale skin seem luminous and her blue eyes glow. Maggie had been able to emphasize the idea of night by twisting most of Charlotte's hair into a chignon, leaving a few strands loose like gold comets streaking around the moon. The sparkling blue star-shaped hairpins and earrings Chanel had provided almost finished the picture, but something was missing. "Sit down for a moment, Charlotte, would you?" Maggie and Edward exchanged glances and snickers. Edward started humming 'Before the Performance' with a huge smirk on his face. As it was, Erik wasn't placing an overly noticeable diamond necklace on Charlotte's throat, but a delicate silver chain. At the center were three blue stones, not unlike a club from a deck of cards. However, at the bottom, instead of a stem, there was a teardrop shaped blue stone. Two similar stones were placed on either side above the club, leading into the chain. The pendant rested on her sternum, a few inches above the neckline of her dress.

"What do you think?" Erik asked. "It was my mother's. I want you to have it."

"It's beautiful."

"You make it beautiful." He corrected.

"Are you two done?" Maggie interrupted. "Because we're going to be late for our own gala if you don't stop."

***December 31, 2009***

"Aaaaaagh!" Charlotte kicked furiously, launching into a rage-filled cabriole. "I! Hate! Everyone!" She snarled, speeding up with a pas de valse and overexerting her legs in a time step. Some girls reverted to journals or punching a pillow when they were upset. Charlotte usually preferred a tennis ball machine and racket, but, since she lacked those, she was reverting to dance. "I could kill someone!" Killing someone was what she felt like doing, seeing as no one was talking to her or even acknowledging her. "Happy birthday to me." She spat. _I'll turn twenty in less than three hours, and no one cares. Why does no one care?_

_**Bzzzzzt. Bzzzzzt.** Her open laptop buzzed. **Alina Stalisan is inviting you to iChat.** "Thank god." Charlotte clicked 'Accept.' _"Hey!"

"Hey, yourself, superstar!" Her roommate, Alina grinned. "Spirit wanted to congratulate her mommy." She lifted up a meowing black kitten with eager emerald eyes.

"Hi, sweetie! Mommy misses you!" Charlotte cooed.

"We miss you, too!" Alina said. "Happy early birthday. I'd stay longer, but I have finals to study for. You are so lucky, Char."

"I know. I'll write, okay? See you when we get to New York. Bye!" Charlotte ended the conversation and started to surf YouTube, except that she saw a flash of red in the mirror. She turned to look, but saw no one. What she did see was that her comfy blue flannel pajamas had been replaced with a bloodred miniskirt and shrug, shiny black knee-high boots with a chunky two-inch heel, and a white tank top with the spray painted image of a rose. "Is everyone trying to piss me off?" She whined. Seeing no sign of her other clothes, and not wanting to stay in her skimpy dance outfit, she pulled the clothes on, cursing under her breath. She stomped back to the dormitory and tugged on the door. "Locked? MAAAAAN!" She kicked the door several times without success. When the wood stopped rattling, she heard a soft pulsing sound. Her curious half said, _follow it!_ Her rational half said, _don't you know how much trouble can come from listening to music? Look at Christine!_

_Shut up,_ her curios half admonished as she headed down to the lobby where the sound was coming from. As she approached, the sounds became music growing steadily louder. She pulled open the doors and was washed away by a loud simultaneous yell of "SURPRISE!"

_

* * *

_A/N:Please review anyway, but unfortunately, I'm going to have to end the chapter now_, porque yo voy a Cancun, Mexico por una semana._

Lila_: _Speak English.

Me: No. _Adios!  
_


	16. Love Without Sight

Me: How's this for a weird coincidence? Li-

Lila: Hey, I want to tell them!

Me: It's my story!

Lila: It's my Punjab lasso.

Me: Bah! Ange de la musique ? Vous êtes une telle chienne.

Lila: Someone's a grumpy Christine today. (Pinches my cheek)

Me: Keep doing that and I'll stay a grumpy Christine.

Lila: Pinchy! Pinch! Pinch! Pinch! Pinch! Pinch! Pinch!

Me: GET OFF!

Lila: Make me.

Me: Bathing beauty on the beach, bathing beauty say hello! What a cutie! What a peach! Bathing beauty, watch her go! Posing under her parasol, she is what you call a real spectacle_

Lila: STOP! AAAAAAAAGH!

Me: How do you stop a Phantom? Sing that. Gah, my tongue is blistered. I really hate Glenn Slater. Anyway, Lila and I are in the same chorus class. She is now singing tenor, due to lack of boys, and I am singing soprano. We have a Masquerade concert on October 28, and are planning to go as Erik and Christine. Go figure. Gaaakkkkk!_ (Guess what Lila just did)_

* * *

"Oh my god." Charlotte squeaked. The lobby of the Opera had been transformed from a pristine, elegant setting to a raging, vibrant nightclub. All the white lights of the chandeliers had been replaced by colored ones, sending flashes of red, blue, green, and ultraviolet across the shining marble. Susana grinned from a legit DJ booth that had replaced the Christmas tree, where she was blasting the BFS Birthday Song. The memorabilia table had been cleared off to make way for all her favorite snacks. At the center was a huge chocolate cake topped with red roses and the words 'Happy Birthday, Little Lotte' written in white. Lurking behind was an even larger stack of gifts.

"Happy birthday!" Maggie giggled, glomping Charlotte from behind. "As my present, you can know that Erik's all yours, forever! I'm never going to steal him."

"What made you think I'd believe something like that?" Charlotte asked.

"Me." Edward smiled with a sheepish grin, and ran his fingers through his bronze hair. "I'm sorry I had to keep you in the dark like that, Lottie."

"We're all sorry." Kate agreed. "But we knew if we kept talking to you, we might let something slip. Do you forgive us?"

"If I didn't, would I be letting Maggie glomp me for so long?" Charlotte laughed, collapsing under Maggie's weight.

"So we can all glomp you?" Kate grinned.

"Nooooo!" Charlotte screamed, but it was too late. Every single person in the company was on top of her.

"Okay, that's enough. A trip to the hospital is not the best gift." A laughing voice interrupted.

"Erik!" Charlotte shot up and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"Enjoy the party, love. You deserve it." He kissed her warmly.

"Thank you. All of you. This is incredible_"

"Enough talking!" Louisa yelled, turning up the volume of 'Paparazzi.' "Let's dance!"

* * *

"FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Edward spun Maggie around and tossed her into the air. Kate locked onto Andre's lips like they were the last boat leaving the sinking Titanic and pulled away screaming victory. Louisa and the other dancers bounced up and down squealing. Erik and Charlotte slipped away down to the lair.

"So what are you planning to show me?" She asked.

"A new song."

"One from _Cats 2_, I suppose?" She teased.

"Ugh, God forbid!" Erik shuddered at the thought. "This one's yours alone."

"Wow." Charlotte smiled. "More details, please. Inspiration ... tempo ... emotion ... chords ... duet versus solo ... "

"You'll see." Erik rolled his eyes. "Being twenty has made you very impatient, _ma cherie_."

"Just wait till I'm twenty-one. I'll be unbearable." She jerked a tangled strand of his hair.

"Ow!"

"Sowwy." Charlotte lisped and pouted.

"Stop acting so immature. It really doesn't suit you."

"But I wike it."

"Please stop it." Erik kissed her forcefully.

"Oh, alwight."

"Did you not hear me?"

"I hear you, I'm just not wistening."

"Get out." Erik shoved her into the water.

"Aaaaaaaaigh!" Charlotte shrieked loudly as she tumbled down. Fighting for breath, she swam up directly under the boat and capsized it, plunging him into the water with her.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Erik gasped as the two of them resurfaced.

"Gotcha! Déjà vu, huh, Erik?" Charlotte laughed. "Just like how we spent our first night together."

"Very funny. Now help me turn the damn boat back up." Erik said with a grin.

"As you wish. But at this point, we're dead meat. Chanel will kill us when she sees our clothes."

"She doesn't have to see. Have you been studying the Punjabi phrases I taught you?"

"I still don't understand why I have to learn them, but yeah."

"Let's hear."

"Han labbhna mera ganna bajja firishta.*" Charlotte recited.

"Good girl. Now to music." Erik pulled out a new folder from underneath _Don Juan Triumphant._

"How's this going?" Charlotte traced the ornate letters of the cover.

"Pretty well. I've translated most of it, and I'm preparing to make the transfer onto my new music program." Erik paused to stroke the new sleek frame of the black MacBook Air everyone had chipped in to buy for him.

"Wow. Cool. You could premier it when we're done."

"Only if you're Aminta."

"I'll think about it. Now what about that new piece you wanted to show me?"

"Here." Erik finished arranging the music. "It's a duet." His fingers glided across the keys, making almost inaudible notes. This is the song:

_"Before I met you_

_My world was dark_

_Without one star in my sky._

_But now, I know you,_

_So everything's bright_

_And I find that I'm able to fly._

_Your emotions took me by surprise._

_It took me so long to realize_

_But you stepped in my life._

_You gave it a light.  
_

_You helped us to join here_

_In a love without sight._

_You don't care about_

_The face that you may see_

_You look at the soul _

_To love the real me."_

"How?" Charlotte whispered.

"I know it's short, but_"

'No, it's beautiful... it's just...those words. They're mine! I wrote them ... after a dream I had ... but I didn't think the poem worked, so I ripped that page and another one out of my journal."

"You mean these?" Erik took two small sheets out of the folder.

"Yes!"

"I found them on the roof. And what's up with the moon?"

"It's my emblem. Watch." She took up a stray pencil and drew one C, then a smaller C, closing it off into a moon, and added the circle. "The circle's the d in a calligraphic style." She explained, drawing the d for emphasis.

"I get it." Erik nodded. "Why didn't you tell me you're a writer?"

"I'm not serious about it... .

"You're good. Very good. We could be the next Ahrens and Flaherty if you wanted."

"Oh, no. I'm staying where I'm at."

***January 1, 2010: 9 PM: Just before Act II***

"I can't believe it!" Kate sighed, running a hand over her tight bun. "Espanna! I can't wait!"

"It's pronounced Es-pan-ya." Tomas and Andre harmonized while adjusting their skeleton masks. "We have one act and three days until we're there, Kate, so say it right!"

"Baka-zaru." Emi muttered barely looking up from fixing Isabella's eyeshadow.

"Mhmmmm." Charlotte murmured, humming her new song.

"Can't believe I'm finally leaving the country." Erik remarked, tracing the missing nose on his Death's head.

"You'll be fine," Edward said. "Barcelona's got some amazing stuff."

"I know."

"Just think about tonight." Sandro broke in. "Tonight will be unforgettable."

* * *

A/N: So the lyrics you saw are mine. The song is still a work in progress. And yes, I did use legit Punjabi. (See the *) It translates to 'I seek my music angel.' Apparently there's no word for 'of.' Typical.

Lila: Whatever. Why do you keep stalling the ending?

Me: It lets me spend more time with you.

Lila: Awwwwww, Christine!

Me: No, it goes 'Ah, Christine.'

Lila: Way to ruin a moment. (AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF PUNJABBING ENSUES)


	17. Down Once More Once More

Me: Li, I'm letting you stay, but I want to ask that we wait for a bit, okay?

Lila: But I just got a new Punjab-

Me: No!

Lila: Cae-

Me: No! No! Non! Nyet! Nein! Inte! Nie! How many languages do I have to say no in?

Lila: Well-

Me: That was rhetorical! Now let me get this chapter up. FYI, the double 'once more' is not an error. You'll all understand once you read the chapter.

* * *

"Where is he?" Charlotte muttered, tapping her foot impatiently. "We're almost at our final duet!"

* * *

"Where is that bloody cape?" Erik hissed. "I'm going to be late!" He saw it balled up in a corner, and bent down to pick it up. "That's not where I left it!"

"No. It's where _I_ left it," a voice sneered.

"Wha-" Erik gasped as he felt himself slip through a trapdoor, the cape being yanked from his hands, and plunging into the water. "No!" _Charlotte!_

_

* * *

_

_Bad luck to go on without a good luck kiss, but here we go,_ Charlotte thought, skipping on and singing Aminta's part. Once she was in position, she zoned out knowing that Erik could snap her back easily.

"You have come here-"

_Aw, crap … Wait a minute-_

"In pursuit of your deepest urge-"

_That's not Erik. Who is it?_

"In pursuit of that wish which till now has been silent, silent."

Charlotte followed the mysteryman in the number until 'what raging fires shall flood the soul.' At which point, she lunged forward, ripped off the mask (and wig, not entirely to her surprise), and let out an ear-splitting scream."Edward!"

_**PAUSE**_

_**Lila, Miri, & Me (w/ Biskuits on iTunes): Wig! It's a wig! It's a wig, wig, wig, wig, wig, wig, wig, wig, wig! It's a wig! It's a really terrrible, awful, nasty wiiiiiiiig!**_

_**RESUME**_

"Bravo, Lottie!" Edward's smirk twisted his despicably perfect features in a way she thought was very satisfying. "You figured it out. Faster than some, but still too late though, I'm afraid."

"What are you talking about? WHERE IS HE?"

"Wouldn't you like to see? He and I will be waiting." With those words, Edward pulled a small remote from within the cape and pressed a button. "Take the plunge, like everything else!" A thick fog began to swirl into the theater, and Charlotte heard the sound of crystal tinkling.

"The chandelier!" She shrieked, running backstage in a fury.

"Lottie, help me!" Maggie yelled. "I can't hold it!" Charlotte raced up the stairs, her heart pounding, to the little room Erik had once shown her._ How does it work again?_

"Grab that chain!" Maggie yelped, pulling at a wooden lever. "Rehook it!"

"No, you do it! I know how it works!" Charlotte caught the lever and passed Maggie the chain. _This one goes back three, the one next to it goes forward seven, and twist the final one two times counterclockwise._ "Okay, now pull!" She released the levers and joined Maggie. The two yanked at the chain until the sound of clinking crystals stopped.

"Thank God." Maggie gasped, dropping to the ground.

"How did you know to come here?" Maggie didn't answer. "Mags, tell me!"

"I knew the pattern," Maggie said, without meeting Charlotte's eyes.

"The truth?"

"I was in on it, okay?" Maggie wailed. "And Sandro knows, too."

"He does? Is he okay? Did Edward…"

"No. He left Sandro to me, so I told him everything, and he tried to help me stop Edward, but it didn't work, because all the trapdoors we opened got locked again." Maggie explained, pulling Charlotte down towards the stage. She ducked underneath the bed and pulled out the plump, sweat-stained young man from beneath. "Sandro, get up! Ugh, you really do need to lose more than a few pounds!" Sandro remained limp. "Oh, right. I should've guessed." She pulled out a stiletto knife from inside her skirt, yanked back Sandro's collar, and slit the rope she had exposed, nicking his flesh slightly.

"Ay!" Sandro yelped, snapping up and clutching his throat. "Margarita! Were we successful?"

"No," Maggie whispered, "I'm so sorry, Sandro."

"You saved me-"

"And now, we have soemone else who needs saving." Charlotte interrupted. "Were there any entrances Edward didn't seal?"

"He got every one in the Opera House." Sandro said despondently.

_In the Opera House? Then there's hope! That's why…_ "Sandro!" Charlotte squealed, wrapping her arms around his waist. When she pulled away, she held his scabbard and sword in her hands. "Thank God Chanel values authenticity!" She murmured, fastening the belt around her own hips. "I'm going to the Rue Scribe. I think I know how to get down there."

"I'm coming, too." Maggie announced, rubbing Sandro's blood off her dagger and onto the curtains.

"You are not. I have to go alone. Edward wants me, not you."

"So, you need as much help as you can get!"

"Fine. But stay hidden. I'm not going to let Edward try to take advantage of you."

"Just as long as you let me come." Pulling up the hoods of their cloaks, the two girls slipped out into the street. As they turned to the Rue Scribe, several police cars whizzed past, sirens wailing in the night.

"We're looking for a door guarded by someone with Persian features. Say this at every door until someone reacts:_ Han labbhna mera ganna bajja firishta."_

"Got it." They ran up and down the street, repeating the phrase until Charlotte had success.

"Zahir karna tuhadi naun." An olive-skinned man ordered, looking her up and down. _Declare your name._

"Han Charlotte de Chagny." _I am Charlotte de Chagny._

"Kis hai tuhadi gahr de log?" _What is your family?_

"Christine Daae ar nale Raoul de Chagny. Sare mera ghar de log jiuna vichch wafat." _Christine Daae and Raoul de Chagny. All my family are dead._

"Tusin ar nale tuhadi sajjan nahin aidharon di langh ao." _You and your friend may pass this way._ The Persian opened the door, and getsured, as the two girls slipped into the darkness.

* * *

When one is being held captive, there are three main ways of going about one's time in captivity. One: you can sit around silently contemplating escape or simply moping. Two: you can try to get all buddy-buddy with your captor and hope they'll release you (Reverse Stockholm Syndrome). Finally, there is option three: you can try to be as much of a pain in ass as you can possibly be and hope you'll be put out of you misery in _some _way. It, unfortunately, was this option that Erik had chosen to pursue when he woke up to find himself tied to a chair and locked in his own lair by the guy that, until recently, he'd been on the way to befriending.

"You know, I never had you pegged as that kind of guy," Erik remarked. "Guess I was wrong."

"_Please_ tell me you're not going to make yet another Twilight comment," Edward hissed, fidgeting with his rapier as if it were a baton. "She's taking a pretty long time to get here through the mirror." Erik smiled at that thought. She'd figured out the one entrance without a booby trap. She had to have.

"Actually, I was talking about your being gay."

"My being _**WHAT!**__**?**_"

"Homosexual, queer, lavendar, pink, camp, homoerotic …" Erik listed in a singsong voice. "Do I need to continue?"

"I am not … that isn't … where the hell did you get an idea like that?" Edward spluttered, his face as florid as the carmine sealing wax on the desk.

"Well, you're the kidnapper. That makes you the Phantom. Charlotte's the rescuer. That makes the poor girl Raoul, and leaves me, the kidnappee as Christine. And I think at this point, I'd be asking if I'm 'now to be prey to your lust for flesh.'"

"You are even more of a pervert than I thought. I think you're the one who's gay!" Edward snapped.

"Oh, so now you're hoping for all your secret yaoi dreams to come true?"

"Ugh!" Edward hurled the figure of the comtesse from the mini-theater, smashing it against the wall.

"Hey! That was an antique!"

"Shut up! You have no idea how tempted I am to kill you!" Edward snarled, slipping into the bedroom.

"Stay out of my underwear drawer!" Erik yelled.

"What, you don't want me finding your condoms? Or are you hiding Lottie's panties in there?"

"Stop pulling shit out of your ass, I was joking."

"I wasn't," Edward retorted, "actually, I'm just waiting for her to find her way in. But first, I need to shut you up." He tore a strip off the black bed hangings

**_PAUSE_**

**_Lila: Nooooo! I wanted that so bad!_**

**_Miri: No way, it's mine!_**

**_Me: My story, my bed hangings!_**

**_RESUME_**

and tied it around Erik's mouth. "Let the games begin."

* * *

"EEEEEEEK!" Maggie yelped, jumping back nearly two yards. "Rats!"

"Mags, that's a mouse. Diocletian, I'd say, but maybe it's Constantin." Charlotte bent down and scooped up the little creature. "Oh, no, wait, this one's Caesar."

"You named the rats after Roman emperors."

"Oh, no, Erik just gave the _mice_ Roman names. And he taught them gestures. Watch this," Charlotte grinned. "Caesar, where's Erik?" The mouse squeaked, and pulled its arms around its body. "Tied up?" Caesar nodded. "Is everyone okay?" Caesar stood and stamped his back foot. "He stepped on someone?" Another nod. "Who?" Caesar bit her hand gently five times. "Aww, poor Quintus. Is Edward still there?" Caesar shrugged. "Thanks, Caesar. Go get the others, keep together." The mouse nodded and skittered away.

"So, did you walk in on Erik mousterbating or something?" Maggie asked.

"You have become increasingly perverted and foul-mouthed since joining this company. You may want to see someone about it." Charlotte hissed. "And no, Erik has never done that. The mice are pets. Now be quiet. If Edward's down there, we can't let him hear us."

* * *

A/N: I will admit this is a semi-filler but I'm debating a serious issue for my next chapter, and I wanted to get a new chapter up, so yeah. This is it. Oh, and I wanted a bit of comedy in this, too.

Lila: It sucked.

Me: DO YOU WANT ME TO LOCK YOU IN A ROOM WITH A MURDEROUS JULIAN SANDS?


	18. You Raise Me Up

Me(Very fast): I'm-gonna-skip-the-disclaimer-so-we-can-get-this-up-don't-tell-Lila-cuz-I-don't-want-to-be-punjabbed-again. And-yes-Edward-is-really-screwed-up-you-won't-believe-what-he's-gonna-do-in-this-chapter-and-I-am-gonna-explain-about-the-Persian-in-this-chapter.

* * *

Erik heard it first. The soft tap of feet in the sanctuary. Two people. Charlotte and one other. Hopefully one of the Girys. His wish was granted as Charlotte and Maggie emerged from the sanctuary. "Erik!" Charlotte gasped, rushing forward. Erik shook his head desperately, but she didn't notice.

"Gotcha!" Edward lunged forth from the bedroom, placing his rapier at Charlotte's throat.

"Traitor!" Maggie screamed, pulling out a dagger furiously.

"Ah-ah-ah." Edward pressed the sword into Charlotte's flesh, a single drop of ruby-red blood appearing at the hollow of her throat. "One wrong step, and she's gone."

"And you say you love me." Charlotte spat. "You're a disgrace."

"You want to see the real disgrace, look at your little friend there. She's the one who was willing to let me kill Joey, rig the dummy, use her own blood for the message, and drop the chandelier all for the sake of a few kisses. And then, after she promised me her love, she turned around, and betrayed me."

"You took advantage of her!" Charlotte argued. "When you do something like that, you lose every right to her loyalty and her love."

"Oh, how touching! Unfortunately, I'm not so easily touched. What are you going to do now?"

Erik mumbled something along the lines of 'gay' through his gag. Maggie bit down on her lip, hazel eyes shining, on the verge of tears. "Oh, I think I'll sing." Charlotte grinned.

"Go ahead, little nightingale. See if you change my mind."

"With pleasure," Charlotte murmured. With speed that would have gotten her a prize in pro wrestling, she jerked her left elbow back into Edward's stomach, and brought up her right fist to the center of his face, while at the same time she jabbed her right heel into his private zone and kicked the inside of his left foot with her own.

"AAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!" Edward screamed, reeling back and unintentionally liberating his captive.

"Yes!" Charlotte drew her sword. "Erik, try to move your hands." He nodded and did so. Charlotte quickly slashed the ropes to pieces and yanked off the gag.

"Thank god." Erik murmured, pulling her into a warm kiss. Out of the corner of her eye, Charlotte saw Edward recovering and slipped Erik the sword.

"Care to finish him?"

"Who says women can't be chivalrous?" Erik asked, accepting the blade with a grin. "You and Maggie get out with the boat. I'll come through the sanctuary once I'm done with him."

"Behind you!" Maggie yelped, ducking as Edward struck.

"Does no one allow for romantic reunions anymore?" Erik demanded, blocking the blow, and turning his attention to his nemesis.

"You call that romantic? I've had more passionate kisses from my sister!" Edward scoffed.

"Oh, so you're not only possibly gay, but incestuous and a pedophile, too?"

"You really are a pervert!"

"One, I am not, and two, even if I were it's better than what you are!"

"And what's that?"

"Psycho!" Erik answered, knocking Edward's sword out of his hands and through the grate into one of the other chambers. "Charlotte, Maggie, wait up."

"We're leaving him here?" Maggie asked.

"We're giving him some time to think about his sin. About why he lost."

"Mmmm." Charlotte nodded, pulling him into the boat.

"Me? Lose?" Edward laughed hysterically. "The only one who's losing is you!" Quick as a leopard, he slipped out a knife from his boot and hurled it towards the trio.

"ERIK!" Charlotte screamed, pushing him back toward the water. "LOOK OU-Ahhhhhh!" As Erik caught himself, he watched helplessly as the knife lodged itself in her shoulder with the force of a bullet. "Darkness...darkness..." she gasped, clutching at her wound, before falling backwards into Maggie.

"No!" Maggie whispered as she yanked the weapon out. "No! No! No! No! Edward! This wasn't... was it?"

"Of course it was," Edward sneered softly. "Now I'll give you one last chance. Give her back to me, or she dies from that venom-coated knife."

"You have an antidote." Erik realized.

"Obviously."

"Give it to me."

"Give her to _me_." Edward drew out a tiny blue vial.

_Accept! Save her! Let her live! Set her free!_ "I can't_._"

"What? You'll let her die?" Maggie gasped.

"You wouldn't...you have no idea how much it pains me to say this. But I love her. I know her heart like it's my own. She's stubborn, and you both know that. She'd rather die loyal to her love for me, than live knowing I gave her up." Erik hung his head. "Let her die. I won't be far behind her anyway."

"Maybe... but I'll be there first!" Edward sprang forward and yanked the blade from Charlotte's flesh.

"Ahhhhahhhh..." she shuddered, tears of green-tinged blood running wild down her arm.

"Hold on, Lottie!" Maggie gripped her good shoulder.

"Feel free to let her go, Maggie. A few more minutes, and it'll be too late." Edward smirked, placing the bloodstained knife to his chest, and turning to Erik. "So... thanks to the curse, another one bites the dust, eh _cousin_?"

"Cousin?" Erik and Maggie repeated.

"See you in hell!" Edward plunged the dagger into his heart and hurled the vial to the rocks.

"No!" Maggie screamed, leaping for the vial. Erik's eyes followed her desperately as she caught it. "Yes!"

"Give it to me, quickly!" Erik urged, snatching it out of her hands and dumping the contents into his own mouth.

"What are you doing?" Maggie protested. "She's the one who-" Erik ignored her, and cupped Charlotte's limp face in his hands. Using his tongue to pry open her lips, he opened his mouth and released the antidote into her. "Ohhhh."

"You steer. I don't ... I can't let her go, now." Erik whispered, cradling her in his arms. _She's like a doll... a cold, lifeless doll. Let her come back!_

"Okay." Maggie nodded. The moments of the journey passed slowly. When they reached the stairway, Erik stepped out, holding Charlotte as though she were made of glass.

"Can you stay here, Maggie," he asked, "in case someone comes down to investigate?"

"Of course." Maggie nodded. "Good luck, Erik. I hope we weren't too late."

"So do I, Mags." Erik sighed. "So do I." Even more endless moments passed as he climbed the stairs.

"E-Erik." Charlotte's eye's flickered open, a faded gray.

"I'm here, love. It's alright. "

"I can't hear ... our music, Erik! Why can't I ... hear it?"

"You're fine, don't worry."

"Don't ... lie to me ... please. I know ... it's time for me ... to leave."

"No, stop saying things like that! I need you to stay!"

"It was wonderful ... while it lasted. I love you ... Erik."

"I know! I love you, too! That's why you have to hold on!"

"Kiss me ... one last time." She gasped out. _This isn't the time to be making crappy Love Never Dies references!_ Erik wanted to scream, but he did as she asked. "Now ... I can ... die."

"Wait ... don't ..." But her eyes flickered shut, a peaceful, but pained smile on her lips. "Don't leave me."

**_PAUSE_**

**_We're about to transfer to Charlotte's POV, but the thing is, it's like a hallucination. In her mind, her subconscious, a dream ... oh, gah, someone else will be explaining it in a few moments._**

**_RESUME  
_**

"No! Stop!" Charlotte shrieked, images whirling by her. _Graduation, a wedding, the fuzz of a newborn baby's hair, tender moments everywhere. _"Take me back! Please, take me back!"

Blackness.

_"Charlotte... Charlotte...Charlotte... " _A soft, haunting voice called her name.

"Uhhhh..." Her eyes opened to more blackness, penetrated only by tiny orbs of golden light. "Where am I?" She caught sight of a brown shimmer. "Who's there?"

"_Petite ange de la musique_, do you truly not know me?" A young woman's pale sculpted face appeared beside one of the lights, the gleam proving to be her mahogany hair.

"Christine..." Charlotte breathed.

"Unfortunately so."

"Then I'm dead, after all. Where is everyone? My parents, Mamon, Joey?"

"Do I take it you want to die then?" Christine asked.

"What?"

"Well, you're not really dead at this point. You're in between."

In between?" Charlotte repeated.

"You always have been. From the instant you were born."

"The stroke of midnight, New Year's Eve."

"Between two year, two months, two hours, two minutes. You are extraordinarily positioned in a way many wish for."

"I don't follow you."

"You are in the realm between life and death, waking and sleep. Only those born between come here,, and are offered the choice."

"What choice?"

"Charlotte, my dear girl," Christine took her descendant's slender hands in her own, "moments ago, you released several desperate souls from eternal torment, and did what five before you could not. Thank you, for setting Erik, my Erik," she amended quickly. "Free."

"I broke the curse?"

"You would die for your love. You saved his life without a thought for your own. That enough earns you a decision. Do you want to go back to earth and take your chance, knowing you may still die, or die now?"

* * *

Erik paced anxiously back and forth. "One would think that young lady is giving birth!" He overheard a passing nurse exclaim. _Oh, if only she were!_

"Maggie?" He stuck his head in the room, trying hard not to look at what was left of the girl he loved.

"Nothing." Maggie sighed.

"Then I'm going back to the Opera House."

"Wait," Kate interrupted from the other side of the hospital bed. "Take my cell. We'll call if she improves."

Erik accepted the phone and slipped out into the night, headed for the Rue Scribe. "Rai!" He yelled, banging on the entrance to the sanctuary. A bleary eyed Persian opened the door with a scowl.

"Erik, it must be past midnight! What in the name of-" Ignoring the rant, Erik swept past him, up the hidden stairway to Rai's apartment.

"You've served our family well, Rai." Erik interrupted. "Your debt to my father has been repaid."

"Erik, I stayed because I'm incredibly fond of you, not because your father saved my life and was willing to pay me a ludicrous amount of money just to live here."

"I know, but that ends tonight."

"That girl who came through ... she broke up with you?"

"Rai! She's dead! And I can't go on without her! I came here to say good-bye to you and to thank you. I've left you a substantial amount in my will. You should go back home. Find someone you love, start a family."

"Where will you go?"

"The roof."

"Erik-"

"Don't try to stop me. My mind is made up. Thank you again for everything." Erik stood and left, heading down to retrieve the Punjab lasso. Phantom powder would not be quick enough.

* * *

"I can choose?" Charlotte repeated in a dazed tone.

"You can choose. Just tell me why." Christine's kind smile lit up her face. Charlotte pursed her lip and thought for what seemed an eternity.

Finally, her lips unfolded. "I'm going back. There's so much I haven't done yet. I haven't thanked the Girys for being a second family to me, or apologized to everyone in the company for putting them in danger or to Maggie for being so blind. And Erik... I need him. I love him. I just can't leave him. "

"Very well, Charlotte. Go. Teach the world the song of pure love that you two share. Be happy." Christine pulled her in for a hug, and Charlotte caught a faint whiff of roses.

"You forgave him." She smiled.

"Love is worth forgiving for. You should do the same for Edward." Christine replied. "Go now, my young angel. Follow the path." At her words, a golden road appeared, and Charlotte stepped on, an anime opening song Emiko had shown her once coming out of her lips joyfully.

"When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary ... When troubles come and my heart burdened be ... Then, I am still and wait here in the silence ... Until you come and sit awhile and with me." She caught a glimpse of her body in a hospital bed, rising up and following where her road led. "You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains! You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas!I am strong, when I am on your shoulders!You raise me up, to more than I can be." Then she saw Erik's form ascending the stairs to the roof."There is no life - no life without its hunger;Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;But when you come and I am filled with wonder, sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity. You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains. You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas. I am strong, when I am on your shoulders. You raise me up, to more than I can be." She felt her soul slip into her body and all at once, her vision returned to normal. Racing up to the door, she skipped the last two choruses and flung it open, singing in full voice. "You raise me up, to more than I can be..." Erik turned to see her and smiled brilliantly, dropping the lasso and taking her in his arms.

"I can't believe it..." He whispered.

"Do you honestly think I'd set you free just to let you get away from me?" Charlotte teased, extracting the ring from her bracelet and sliding it back on her finger, where it belonged. "You're mine for life, and don't you forget it."

"I won't" Erik promised, kissing her. Reader, I hate having to quote other authors, but I find not better description of this reunion than in one of Charlotte's favorite books, _The Princess Bride_, which is as follows: _Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, the most pure. This one left them all behind._

_

* * *

_So, there it is, my penultimate chapter. The lyrics I used are the opening of Romeo x Juliet, "You Raise Me Up," performed by Lena Park_. _Please review and check in soon for the Epilogue!

_XOXOXO_

_Caelia di Mekio  
_


	19. What Little We Deserve

_**EPILOGUE: What Little We Deserve**_

For a few desperate hours, it seemed as though the Opera International would never leave France, due to Edward's suicide. After much consideration, it was decided that the only possibility was that he was the last of Christine Muhlheim's male descendants, seeing as there were no other unknowns in the equation.

The issue of a missing Raoul was solved when Aidan Hites volunteered on the conditions that one, the cost of Invisalign be included in his pay check, and two, he be allowed to write a weekly column about the debut season. The terms were agreed to and, quick study that he was, Aidan was ready to open with everyone else a week later at the Liceu Opera House in Barcelona. The two-year season concluded in New York at the Metropolitan, where the next show, being_ Porgy and Bess,_ would open.

As for the cast and crew? Where are they now?

_Susana:_

Susana sunk into depression due to an inferiority complex when she came home and found out her sister had become a supermodel. She ended up as an alcoholic and had to go all the way to Switzerland for treatment. She's still there, mostly because she likes it.

_Chanel and Louisa:_

Being out of a job without _Phantom_, Chanel decided to turn what costumes the cast didn't take as mementos into her own clothing line, which became immensely popular among PhanGirls worldwide. She also created the Charlotte, Maggie, Kate and Isabella collections with Louisa, who became her partner a few years later. Louisa heads up the New York branch and Chanel the Paris headquarters.

_Emiko, Tomas and Andre:_

The twins, thanks to Emiko's suggestion, decided to go to Japan and make a name for themselves as twincestual models, Emi serving as their manager. They immediately became incredibly popular, and are living in ridiculously luxurious conditions to this day. The twins never married anyone, because they didn't want to betray each other. Emi married her old friend Taro Arakaki. They're all filthy rich and very happy.

_Marty:_

Marty utilized his natural voice and won a Tony for Best Supporting Actor in a revival of Les Miserables as Messieur Thenadier. He then retired to Ireland and eventually died of boredom and alcoholism.

_Sandro and Isabella:_

The two Italians returned to their homes. Isabella went back to the Bellini Theaater, and became known as the next Maria Callas. Sandro became a priest and eventually a cardinal. They remained good friends, though Sandro maintained a pathological fear of theater for the rest of his life.

_Kate:_

Kate left the stage in favor of her computer, moved to London, and wrote a best-selling self-help book on romance, called _Kiss Like An Angel, Move Like The Devil_, based quite a bit on the encounters during the Opera International. After an encounter with one of her seemingly endless boyfriends, she ended up with an illegitimate daughter, Marie, which ended her flirtatious way significantly, but she stayed in London, and continues to write.

_Maggie and Aidan:_

Because she was only an accomplice, Maggie was fined and placed on probation, which she never broke. While in Japan, she hooked up with Aidan, and the two stayed together until they got bored of each other, three years later. After the end of _Phantom_, she left to study abroad in Russia, and in time, became the prima ballerina. She now teaches at the American School of Ballet, and lectures at Alvin Ailey. She never married, claiming it was 'too risky.' After their breakup, Aidan switched to writing plays and would eventually team up with Erik. He later married Charlotte's old roommate Alina.

_Erik and Charlotte:_

The biggest change of the lifting of the curse was Erik's face. His scars never disappeared, but faded to the point where they resembled Gerard Butler's makeup, sans the drooping eyelid, and Erik could go out without his mask on. He also changed his surname to Destler. Because of these changes, he allowed Andrew to announce him at the end of the run.

Charlotte graduated, only six months after _Phantom_ ended, at the top of the class of 2012. Around the same time, Erik got _Don Juan Triumphant_ published and Charlotte agreed to audition, provided Erik didn't play favorites and hired a different casting director. She still got the part, and wound up being cast opposite Ramin Karimloo as Don Juan. This, of course, led to quite a bit of tension, as Erik had to then tell Ramin Karimloo how to hold, kiss, and grope _his_ girlfriend (he'd developed a jealousy issue from all those months of _Phantom_).

After the completion of _DJT _in 2013, Erik and Charlotte got married in a private ceremony on the opera house roof at twilight on June 17, the same day Charlotte's parents had been married. Just over a year later, they welcomed twins Angel Isabella, and Michael Gerard (Mike) into the world on August 28, 2014. On February 13, 2016, Thomas Andrew (named for the Firmin twins and Andrew Lloyd Webber) joined the family. The biggest surprise occurred when Charlotte delivered the triplets, Katherine Margaret (Kitty), Annika Eleanor (Nikki), and Alexander Joseph (Alex) on November 5, 2017. Half of their friends called them insane for trying balance raising six children with their respective careers, but they managed very well, as did the children.

Angel became a composer, like her father, as well as the family cross-dresser, and sang castrati in her school's boy-only _a capella_ group, as well as playing Angel in _RENT_. Mike, since he looked like his mother, became Gustave for the Opera International's 10th anniversary production of Love Never Dies, featuring the original cast. He would be the only child to be onstage for his whole life. Tad (Using his initials, TAD) inherited the mice project from Erik, and turned them into Broadway performers that became a YouTube sensation. He's currently trying to teach the kittens of his mother's cat, Spirit, the routines from _A Chorus Line_. Kitty, the quietest child, followed her siblings around, sketching and painting them nonstop. She dreams of becoming a set designer. Nikki is trying to find a cure for bad singing, despite her parents' telling her that only practice and voice lessons can do that. Alex became Angel's lyricist and the two are currently trying to modernize _The Magic Flute_.

Charlotte and Erik forgave Edward, and took a yearly trip to his grave in memoriam. There were also some major changes in the Opera Populaire, which they turned into a fun house/museum for Phans of all varieties. The most popular activity has been, since opening, the actors hired to play the Phantom and sing Music of The Night for the teenage girls who visit. Chanel provides all the souvenirs for the gift shop, and during holiday galas, many of their friends stop by to perform.

The family does not live beneath the Opera House anymore. Instead they're in a cozy, but large apartment near Rai's on the Rue Scribe. They make more than enough to live somewhere more expensive, but they donate a lot of their profits to music charities and programs worldwide, living by what they call the 'Once Upon Another Time' philosophy: _We love, we live, we give what we can give, and take what little we deserve._

* * *

_Dear Reader,_

_It has always been unclear as to whether or not there are true happy endings in life. The most we can hope for is to make the best of our fates and never abandon the belief that love conquers any foe set before it. Whether your love be for a human, the magic of music, or, your family, you must keep it strong and do what you love._

_Whether this story is true or not is up to you. I am merely the teller of one chapter in the tale. Its conclusion will never occur, as long as it is kept alive in your hearts._

_Thank you for reading._

_Yours,_

_Caelia di Mekio_

_**FINIS**  
_


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